White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt (Shutterstock)
French MP Glucksmann: ‘Give us back the Statue of Liberty. We gave it to you as a gift.’
By Vered Weiss, World Israel News
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt responded to a French Member of Parliament who demanded that the US give back the Statue of Liberty.
Leavitt said, “It’s only because of America that the French are not speaking German right now,” and added that France “should be very grateful to our great country.”
Leavitt’s response was directed towards Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats MP Raphaël Glucksmann who was critical of US policy in the war between Russia and Ukraine and funding cuts to universities.
Glucksmann said, “Give us back the Statue of Liberty. 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.’ We gave it to you as a gift.”
France presented the 305-foot tall statue designed by French sculptor Auguste Bartholdi to the United States 140 years ago.
After it was given in 1884, the statue was unveiled by President Grover Cleveland in New York in 1886 to commemorate the centennial of the US Declaration of Independence.
A miniature version of the statue is on display at the Allée des Cygnes, a small island on the Seine River in Paris.
Glucksmann criticized US President Donald Trump not showing more support for Ukraine during its war with Russia.
He also condemned the US for cutting federal funding of certain universities.
“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 said.
He also condemned conservative members of the French Parliament and referred to them as a “fan club” for Trump and billionaire Elon Musk.
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