'Give us back the Statue of Liberty,' French MEP tells U.S.

France should take back the Statue of Liberty because the U.S. no longer represents the values that led France to offer the statue, a French Euro-deputy said on Sunday.

"Give us back the Statue of Liberty", politician Raphael Glucksmann said at a convention of his Place Publique center-left movement.

"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,'" he told cheering supporters.

"We gave it to you as a gift, but apparently you despise it. So it will be just fine here at home," he added.

The Statue of Liberty was unveiled in New York City's harbor on October 28, 1886 for the centennial of the American Declaration of Independence as a gift from the French people to America. It was designed by Frenchman Auguste Bartholdi. 

Paris does have a far smaller copy of the statue, on a small island on the Seine in Paris.

Staunch defender

Glucksmann, a staunch defender of Ukraine, has strongly criticized President Donald Trump's radical change of U.S. policy on the conflict.

He also took aim at Trump's cuts to U.S. research institutions, which has already prompted a French government initiative to attract some of them to work in France.

"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,'" continued Glucksmann.

Since Trump returned to the White House in January, his government has cut federal research funding and sought to dismiss hundreds of federal workers working on health and climate research.

Glucksmann also criticized far-right leaders in France, accusing them of being a "fan club" for Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, who is spearheading the president's efforts to cut spending.