White House spox: French would be speaking German if not for the US Slams French lawmaker’s Statue of Liberty demand

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt responded sharply to Raphaël Glucksmann, a French politician, who recently made headlines by demanding that the United States return the Statue of Liberty to France.

During a March 17 press briefing, Leavitt was asked by Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy whether President Donald Trump would consider giving the Statue of Liberty, which has stood in New York Harbor since the late 19th century, back to France.

"Absolutely not," Leavitt said, smiling. "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."

She continued, "So they should be very grateful to our great country," referencing the role of American troops in liberating France from Nazi Germany's occupation during World War II.

Raphaël Glucksmann, a member of the European Parliament and co-president of a small left-wing party in France, had demanded the return of the statue during an address to supporters of his Public Place party on Sunday.

"Give us back the Statue of Liberty. It was our gift to you. But apparently you despise her. So she will be happy here with us," Glucksmann said, sparking applause and whistles from his audience.

Glucksmann's party has also criticized Trump's administration, accusing it of wielding power in an "authoritarian" manner and allegedly "preparing to deliver Ukraine on a silver platter" to Russia.

In his speech, Glucksmann referenced Emma Lazarus' famous poem, which is inscribed on the Statue of Liberty's pedestal, about the "mighty woman with a torch" offering a home to the "huddled masses yearning to breathe free." He lamented, "Today, this land is ceasing to be what it was."

UNESCO, the United Nations' cultural body that recognizes the Statue of Liberty as a World Heritage site, notes that the monument remains US government property.

Originally conceived as a symbol of French-American friendship to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 1776 Declaration of Independence, the statue was a monumental gift from France. However, the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 delayed the design process, and funding for the statue was split between the two nations: the French funded the statue, and the Americans covered the pedestal costs.

By Tamilla Hasanova