Washington: White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed a suggestion by French politician Raphaël Glucksmann to return the Statue of Liberty to France, responding with a sharp rebuke that credited the United States for France not speaking German.
Glucksmann, a centre-left politician and vocal critic of former President Donald Trump, recently argued that the United States no longer upholds the values that inspired France to gift the statue in 1886.
“Give us back the Statue of Liberty,” Glucksmann said, criticising the U.S. for “siding with tyrants” and dismissing researchers advocating for scientific freedom. “We gave it to you as a gift, but apparently, you despise it. So it will be just fine here at home.”
The statement sparked a sharp response from the White House. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed the demand outright, ridiculing Glucksmann’s political stature.
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“Absolutely not. And 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,” Leavitt said.
The Statue of Liberty was presented in New York Harbor October 28, 1886, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the American Declaration of Independence. Created by French artist Auguste Bartholdi, it was a present from the people of France to the United States, representing the common values of freedom and democracy.
While Paris does have a smaller replica of the statue on an island in the Seine, Glucksmann’s remarks were largely seen as a symbolic political statement rather than a genuine demand for its return.
A vocal critic of Trump, Glucksmann has strongly opposed the US President’s shift in foreign policy, particularly regarding the war in Ukraine.
He has also condemned far-right leaders in France, accusing them of being “a fan club” for Trump and billionaire Elon Musk.
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