A French lawmaker has suggested that the United States should hand back the Statue of Liberty, accusing some Americans of siding with oppressive regimes.

Raphaël Glucksmann, a European Parliament member from the left-wing Place Publique party, made the controversial remarks during a rally on Sunday.

“Return the Statue of Liberty,” Glucksmann declared. “We gifted it to you, but it seems you no longer honor its meaning.”

The Statue of Liberty, a powerful emblem of freedom and democracy, was presented by France to the United States in 1886. It depicts Libertas, the Roman goddess of liberty, holding a torch high in one hand and a tablet inscribed with the date of American independence in the other. Beneath her robe lie broken shackles, symbolizing the abolition of oppression.

The White House swiftly rebuffed Glucksmann’s comments. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed the criticism, saying,

“My advice to that obscure French politician is to remember that if not for the United States, the French wouldn’t be speaking French today—they’d be speaking German. They should show gratitude toward our great nation.”

Glucksmann later clarified that while he remains deeply grateful to the American soldiers who fought against tyranny in World War II, he fears a shift in the country’s foreign policy under former President Donald Trump.

“The America of those heroes fought against tyrants—it did not appease them. It stood against fascism, not alongside Putin. It supported the resistance, not attacked Zelensky,” he wrote.

He emphasized that his call to reclaim the Statue of Liberty was meant as a symbolic gesture, expressing his concern that the U.S. government may be straying from the very values the statue represents.