(Image via cnn.com)
Staff Writer: Gwen Pichette
Email: gpichette@umassd.edu
A French politician has turned heads after calling for the United States to return the iconic Statue of liberty to France—a gift from nearly 140 years ago.
France initially gave the statue of liberty as a gift of friendship to the United States back in 1886 on the centenary of American independence.
Representing Libertas, the Roman Liberty goddess, the statue holds a tablet in her left hand with the date of the Declaration of Independence on it. Broken shackles on the drapery of the statue symbolize the end of oppression and slavery. It has since become an iconic symbol of freedom and democracy for the U.S, drawing millions of tourists to it year after year.
Now, French politician Raphaël Glucksman, who accuses many Americans of having “chosen to switch to the side of tyrants,” demands to have it back.
Glucksman, who is also a member of European parliament representing the French left-wing party Place Publique, went on to say to Americans, “We gave it to you as a gift, but apparently, you despise it. So let it be here with us.”
In his speech at a political rally, he alluded to some of President Trump’s controversial actions, as he specifically called out “those who fire researchers for exercising scientific freedoms.”
The scientific freedoms he was referring to was Trump’s administration cutting federal assistance to U.S. research institutes and gutting more than 100,000 federal workers.
In solidarity for those fired workers, Glucksman vowed that France would welcome them, saying, “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.”
Glucksman also pointed out that the anti-immigration stances of Trump’s administration did not align with the intended symbol of the monument.
Click here to watch the controversial clip.
Upon being asked in a briefing if the U.S. would consider returning the statue, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt replied, “Absolutely not.”
Leavitt went on to say, “My advice to that unnamed, low-level French politician would be to remind them that it’s only because of the United States of America that the French are not speaking German right now. So they should be very grateful to our great country.”
These remarks have only continued to escalate the already growing tension between the United States and the European Union.
The ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine remains a key factor, particularly after the failed Oval Office meeting between Trump, J.D. Vance, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The meeting concluded with U.S. leaders berating Zelensky, prompting many European leaders to rally in support of Ukraine—including France.
Additionally, the ongoing trade disputes with the European Union have further intensified tensions.
Leavitt’s comments come right after the European Union declared that it will be issuing retaliatory tariffs in response to Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs on £21.58 billion ($28 billion) worth of US goods.
But the question still remains: could France actually reclaim the iconic nearly century-and-a-half old statue?
The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization, or what is more commonly known as UNESCO, says no.
According to the UNESCO’s World Heritage Convention, the U.S. government legally owns all rights to the Statue of Liberty.
But Glucksman clarified that his call for the reclamation of the Statue of Liberty was more symbolic than anything in a series of posts on X the day following the rally.
He wrote, “It is precisely because I am petrified by Trumps [sic] betrayal that I said yesterday in a rally that we could symbolically take back the Statue of Liberty if your government despised everything it symbolizes in your eyes, ours, and those of the world.”
“No one, of course, will come and steal the Statue of Liberty. The statue is yours. But what it embodies belongs to everyone,” he said. “And if the free world no longer interests your government, then we will take up the torch, here in Europe.”