A French politician has demanded the US returns the Statue of Liberty – which was gifted to the States more than 100 years ago.
French member of parliament Raphaël Glucksmann accused America of losing its way and no longer standing for the values embodied by the iconic sculpture of Lady Liberty. The left-leaning politician was speaking at a recent convention for his Place Publique party when he said: “We’re going to say to the Americans who have chosen to side with the tyrants, to the Americans who fired researchers for demanding scientific freedom: ‘Give us back the Statue of Liberty’.
French daily Le Monde reported him saying: “We gave it to you as a gift, but apparently you despise it. So it will be just fine here at home.” The parliamentarian has been a vocal supporter of Ukraine who has been scathing in his criticism of Trump’s removal of support, as well as the president snatching funding from colleges and research hubs.
“The second thing we’re going to say to the Americans is: ‘If you want to fire your best researchers, if you want to fire all the people who, through their freedom and their sense of innovation, their taste for doubt and research, have made your country the world’s leading power, then we’re going to welcome them,’” he said.
French sculptor Auguste Bartholdi designed and built the 450,000lb, 305ft-tall Lady Liberty, which was unveiled in Upper New York Bay in 1886 after being given to the States as a gift from France. In the years that followed, it’s become iconic and emblematic of the American dream, freedom and democracy.
He’s the not the first politician to call out Trump’s wild behaviour since taking office. At the end of February, French President Emmanuel Macron himself publicly interrupted Donald Trump to correct another of the US President’s falsehoods over Ukraine.
The rare diplomatic rebuke at the White House highlighted the underlying tensions in the two leaders’ discussions despite their outwardly cordial tone. It came as Trump revealed that Russian President Vladimir Putin would accept European peacekeeping troops as part of a potential peace deal.
While both leaders expressed a willingness to cooperate on the future of Ukraine, the meeting unfolded against the backdrop of Trump’s history of making misleading claims about the war effort. As the US leader spoke about his proposal to use Kyiv’s mineral revenues to repay American assistance, he claimed that European nations were merely loaning financial aid to Kyiv.
“Just so you understand, Europe is loaning the money to Ukraine. They’re getting their money back,” Trump said, pressing his argument that US taxpayers would see no return.
Before he could continue, Macron swiftly intervened, physically reaching over to grab Trump’s arm in a pointed effort to set the record straight.
“No, in fact, to be frank, we paid,” Macron insisted. “We paid 60 per cent of the total effort.
“It was like the US: loans, guarantees, grants.” Macron also took aim at Trump’s remarks about frozen Russian assets in Europe, pushing back against the idea that they were being used as security for loans to Ukraine.
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