In the hours following President-Elect Donald Trump’s victory in Tuesday’s general election, a new hashtag began springing up on social media:
#Calexit
Organizers of the new movement are seeking to have California and the other West Coast states—Washington and Oregon—and possibly Nevada secede from the United States. As the U.K.’s Evening Standard newspaper reports:
One group, the Yes California Independence Campaign, is holding an event in Sacramento on Wednesday in the hopes of gaining support for the idea.
Their manifesto, actually written before Trump’s success, reads: “In our view, the United States of America represents so many things that conflict with Californian values.
“Our continued statehood means California will continue subsidising the other states to our own detriment, and to the detriment of our children.”
Conservative media commentator Mark Dice jokingly suggested perhaps it was a good idea:
California should secede. Exit right into the Pacific Ocean and help Make America Great Again! #Calexit
