US Dismisses French Politician's Demand to Return Statue of Liberty, Labels Him 'Low-Level'

The United States has strongly dismissed a proposal by French politician Raphael Glucksmann to send the Statue of Liberty back to France, labeling his remarks as unfair and politically motivated.

Glucksmann, a center-left politician, recently suggested that France take back the iconic statue, claiming that the U.S. no longer represents the values that led the French to gift the monument.

His remarks were seen as a clear criticism of U.S. President Donald Trump's policies, particularly concerning scientific freedom and global diplomacy.

"Give us back the Statue of Liberty… We're going to say to the Americans, who have opted to align themselves with the tyrants and dismissed researchers for insisting on scientific freedom -- 'Give us back the Statue of Liberty,'" Glucksmann declared.

"We offered it to you as a gift, but you seem to loathe it. So it will be perfectly alright here at home," he went on.

The White House was swift to react to Glucksmann's comments. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt categorically dismissed the notion, ridiculing the politician's low popularity in French politics.

"No way. And my message to that unidentified low-level French politician would be to remind them that it's only because of the United States of America that the French aren't currently speaking German. So they should be extremely thankful to our great nation," Leavitt stated.

The Statue of Liberty, dedicated in New York Harbor on October 28, 1886, was a gift from the people of France to the United States to celebrate the centennial of the American Declaration of Independence. It was designed by French sculptor Auguste Bartholdi and represented the common ideals of liberty and democracy between the two countries.

Although a smaller replica of the statue does exist in Paris, on an island in the Seine, Glucksmann's remarks were widely seen as a political gesture in a symbolic rather than a formal call for the return of the statue.

An outspoken critic of Trump, Glucksmann has been vocal in his criticism of the former U.S. President's foreign policy and especially his handling of the war in Ukraine. He has also been a critical commentator of France's far-right politicians, accusing them of being Trump supporters and billionaire Elon Musk backers.