French Politician Demands Statue of Liberty Back

A French Parliament member is demanding that the U.S. return the Statue of Liberty to France, who gifted it to the Americans in the 1880s.

Center-left politician Raphaël Glucksmann made the comments at a recent convention of his political party, Place Publique.

"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 supporters, according to Le Monde, a French newspaper.

"We gave it to you as a gift, but apparently you despise it. So, it will be just fine here at home," he added.

France presented the Statue of Liberty to America on July 4, 1884, before it was later unveiled in New York City on Oct. 28, 1886, by then-President Grover Cleveland for the centennial of the U.S. Declaration of Independence.

The statue was designed by French sculptor Auguste Bartholdi and weighs about 450,000 pounds and stands at 305 feet tall.

A much smaller copy of the statue is displayed on Allée des Cygnes, a small island on the Seine River in Paris. The Lady Liberty replica was gifted to France by the U.S. in 1889 to mark 100 years since the French Revolution.

Glucksmann, a staunch supporter of Ukraine in its war against Russia, has panned President Donald Trump for pulling back support for the country in its fight against Moscow's invasion since February 2022.

He also criticized Trump for cutting federal funding to U.S. colleges and research institutions, a move that led to a French government initiative aiming to bring some of them to France.

"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," Glucksmann said.

Glucksmann also criticized right-wing members of the French Parliament for being a "fan club" for Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, a senior advisor to Trump who also leads the Department of Government Efficiency.