Give us back the Statue of Liberty, French politician tells US
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The Statue of Liberty was unveiled in New York City’s harbour on Oct 28, 1886, as a gift from the French people to America.
ST PHOTO: PETER KAPLAN
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PARIS - France should take back the Statue of Liberty because the United States no longer represents the values that led France to offer the statue, a French Euro-deputy said on March 16.
“Give us back the Statue of Liberty,” centre-left politician Raphael Glucksmann said at a convention of his Place Publique centre-left movement.
“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’,” he told cheering supporters.
“‘We gave it to you as a gift, but apparently, you despise it. So it will be just fine here at home.”
The Statue of Liberty was unveiled in New York City’s harbour on Oct 28, 1886, for the centennial of the American Declaration of Independence as a gift from the French people to America. It was designed by Frenchman Auguste Bartholdi.
Paris has a far smaller copy of the statue on a small island on the Seine in Paris.
Mr Glucksmann, a Member of the European Parliament and a staunch defender of Ukraine, has strongly criticised US President Donald Trump’s radical change of policy on the war.
He also took aim at Mr Trump’s cuts to US research institutions
French politician Raphael Glucksmann (above) has strongly criticised President Donald Trump’s radical change of US policy on the war.
PHOTO: AFP
“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’,” added Mr Glucksmann.
Since Mr Trump returned to the White House in January, his government has cut federal research funding and sought to dismiss hundreds of federal workers working on health and climate research.
Mr Glucksmann also criticised far-right leaders in France, accusing them of being a “fan club” for Mr Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, who is spearheading the US President’s efforts to cut spending. AFP
