French MEP demands the US 'give us back the Statue of Liberty' [View all]

Source: France 24

A French member of the European parliament has called for the US to return the Statue of Liberty originally gifted by the French people to mark the centennial of American independence because the US no longer represents the values that led France to offer the statue.

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.
He also took aim at Trump's cuts to US research institutions, which has already prompted a French government initiative to attract some of them to work in 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,'" continued Glucksmann.


Read more: https://www.france24.com/en/france/20250316-french-mp-demands-the-us-give-us-back-the-statue-of-liberty