French deputy to US: ‘give us back the Statue of Liberty’
Raphael Glucksmann urges America to return New York City’s famed statue, citing divergent values in the Trump era
France should take back the Statue of Liberty because the US no longer represents the values that led France to offer the statue, a French Euro-deputy said on Sunday.
“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,” he added.
The Statue of Liberty was unveiled in New York City’s harbour on October 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.