A French member of the European Parliament has taken a bold swipe at the United States under President Donald Trump and called for the return of the Statue of Liberty, which France gifted to America and has since become a symbol of freedom and democracy worldwide.
“We’re going to say to the Americans who have chosen to side with tyrants, to the Americans who fired researchers for demanding scientific freedom: ‘Give us back the Statue of Liberty,’” Raphael Glucksmann told supporters of his center-left Place Publique party on Sunday.
“We gave it to you as a gift, but apparently you despise it. So it will be just fine here at home,” he continued of the iconic landmark that was dedicated in New York Harbor in 1886 to commemorate the centennial of the American Declaration of Independence, drawing cheers from the crowd.
Glucksmann also had a mesage for the U.S.-based scientists who have been hit by Trump-enabled billionaire Elon Musk’s gutting of federally-backed research programs via the nonofficial Department of Government Efficiency.
“If you want to fire your best researchers—those who, through their freedom, innovation, and pursuit of knowledge, helped make your country the world’s leading power—then we’re going to welcome them,” Glucksmann declared.