In a virtually unheard-of instance in modern diplomacy, French Parliament member Raphaël Glucksmann has issued a demand for the United States to return the Statue of Liberty to its original gifter, France. The center-left politician, speaking at a convention for the political party Place Publique, criticized what he sees as the U.S. turning its back on the very values the statue symbolizes, stating, "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,'" to which he further added, "We gave it to you as a gift, but apparently you despise it. So, it will be just fine here at home," as reported by FOX 5 New York.
Glucksmann's remarks also expanded on a broader concern, as he addressed the U.S. reducing federal funding to colleges and research institutions that have, in his view, amounted to a dismissal of those whose innovation and questioning have propelled the country to global prominence, according to the New York Post. The Statue of Liberty, which was designed by French sculptor Auguste Bartholdi and presented to America on July 4, 1884, before its unveiling in 1886, it stands at 305 feet tall and weighs about 450,000 pounds.
The criticisms don't end there with Glucksmann also taking sharp jabs at right-wing members of the French Parliament who he describes as a "fan club" for Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, Trump's adviser and head of the Department of Government Efficiency; these comments come at a time of increasing global tensions and shifts in international relationships, Glucksmann told FOX 5 New York.
It should be noted that the United States gifted France with a smaller replica of Lady Liberty, which now stands on Allée des Cygnes, a small island on the Seine River in Paris, this gesture was made in 1889 to commemorate a century since the French Revolution, and over time the original has become one of the United States' most recognizable symbols — now caught in a debate over its continued relevance in its current home, the New York Post reported.
