NPR reports that French politician asked the U.S. to return the Statue of Liberty, suggesting that America no longer lives up to the values the green-hued gift represents.
Raphaël Glucksmann, a member of the European Parliament with the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, told a party convention on Sunday that he had a message "to the Americans who have chosen to side with the tyrants… and who fired researchers for demanding scientific freedom."
"Give us back the Statue of Liberty," he said with a smile as the crowd cheered. "We gave it to you as a gift, but apparently you despise it. So it will be just fine here at home."Glucksmann cited the Trump administration's "betrayal of Ukraine and Europe," and demeaning treatment of scientists.
Following many years of construction, shipping and assembly, the statue was officially unveiled in 1886 in New York Harbor. Ever since its raised torch and inscribed words of welcome have greeted millions of immigrants who arrived at Ellis Island in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Statue of Liberty would in fact, be hard for France to recall. It’s owned by the U.S. government, according to UNESCO, not to mention it’s a national monument and major tourist attraction.
When asked about Glucksmann's request — which he has since suggested was tongue in cheek — a dead serious White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, "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 no, we’re not giving it back. And for that matter, if we decide to demolish it and replace her with a massive statue of Donald Trump with his middle finger raised high in the direction of Europe that is our prerogative.”
Mea Culpa
Please note that on occasion in order to make a point I resort to Horatian satire. Rather than give the joke away with an emogee my preference is to rely on the reader’s intelligence to determine whether or not I am kidding.
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