A French politician who is a member of the European Parliament is making some waves across the Atlantic after he said the United States should give back the Statue of Liberty during a speech to his supporters Sunday.
Raphaël Glucksmann, co-president of the small left-wing Public Place party, said, “It was our gift to you. But apparently you despise her. So she will be happy here with us.”
As we all learned in history class, Lady Liberty was a gift from France over 100 years ago but it is considered U.S. property.
According to the monument’s official website, the gift was first proposed in 1865 as a way to commemorate the centennial of the Declaration of Independence and the friendship between the two countries.
France took on the fundraising for the statue itself, while the U.S. working on getting funds for the pedestal.
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The Statue of Liberty was made into 350 individual pieces to cross the Atlantic Ocean and finally arrive in New York Harbor in 1885. After assembly, it was officially dedicated by President Grover Cleveland the following year.
During a press briefing on Monday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked about the comments made by Glucksmann and if President Donald Trump was going to send the statue back.
“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.
