OAN Staff Blake Wolf
4:10 PM – Monday, March 17, 2025
A Socialist member of the European Parliament is reportedly demanding that the U.S. return the famous Statue of Liberty, back to France — arguing that the United States has “chosen to side with the tyrants.”
“Give us back the Statue of Liberty,” demanded Raphaël Glucksmann, the French Socialist member of the European Parliament.
“We’re going to say to the Americans who have chosen to side with the tyrants, to the Americans who fired researchers demanding scientific freedom: ‘Give us back the Statue of Liberty,’” Glucksmann stated at a convention held by his political party, Place Publique.
“We gave it to you as a gift, but apparently, you despise it. So, it will be just fine here at home,” he continued.
The Statue of Liberty was first unveiled in the New York Harbor on October 28th, 1886, as a gift from France to commemorate the centennial of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. Known as the “Father of the Statue of Liberty,” a French man named Édouard de Laboulaye first proposed the idea of having a sculptor design and build a monument that represents freedom as a gift for the United States.
As an “ardent supporter of America, Laboulaye wished to commemorate the centennial of the Declaration of Independence as well as celebrate the close relationship between France and America. He was equally moved by the recent abolition of slavery in the U.S., which furthered America’s ideals of liberty and freedom,” according to the Ellis Island Foundation.
The statue weighs around 450,000 pounds, standing at 305-feet-tall, and it was designed and built by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi.
Glucksmann, the French Socialist politician, has also previously criticized President Donald Trump for temporarily pulling military support for Ukraine and for cutting federal funding to certain colleges and research institutions.
“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 continued.
A day later, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt responded to Glucksmann, characterizing him as an “unnamed low-level French politician,” while informing reporters that the U.S. will be keeping the statue.
“My advice to that unnamed low-level French politician would be to remind them that It’s only because of America that the French are not speaking German right now,” in reference to Nazi Germany’s incursion into France. She also noted that France “should be very grateful to our great country.”
Stay informed! Receive breaking news blasts directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here. https://www.oann.com/alerts