A group campaigning for California to leave the United States and become a separate nation said a second Donald Trump administration could launch “an attack on everything California cares about,” as it demanded a referendum on independence for the Golden State.
CALEXIT, which describes itself as a “CA independence movement,” said “the values…displayed by Trump are completely foreign and opposed to California values” in a post on its official website following the Republican‘s election victory.
Trump this month decisively defeated Vice President Kamala Harris, a California native, to secure a second White House term. According to Associated Press (AP) Trump won the seven key battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Georgia, Nevada and Arizona, and he is on track to win the popular vote for the first time.
In an article published on November 6, CALEXIT said: “Hillary won the popular vote in 2016 only due to California’s population. Which meant that in 2016, over half of Americans (outside of California) voted for Trump. It is 8 years later in 2024, and an even higher percentage of Americans have voted for Trump.
“This means that a clear majority of America, including California’s population, likes Trump and what he stands for. NO MORE telling lies to ourselves this time, as Californians, as to what this means.”
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There was a wave of interest in Californian secession after Trump’s first election in November 2016, which caused #Calexit to become a trending topic on Twitter. The day after the vote, the Democratic leaders of the state Senate and Assembly released a joint statement in which they said they “woke up feeling like strangers in a foreign land.”
CALEXIT referenced this in its November 6 article, commenting: “Californians did not put their full faith and trust behind the Calexit option in 2016. Now it is 2024, and Trump is back, and he will come with even more tools and skill and supporters than last time. Do we need to wait until 2028 to realize that this is the trajectory of the country?”
The group added: “Trump could install two more Supreme Court Justices during his next term. That would make the already extra conservative court into an ultra-conservative one.
“The court has already undone decades of precedent and turned back the clock effectively 80 years on progressive issues. With more Justices, the laws that could be reinterpreted will be even more of an attack on everything California cares about.”
CALEXIT insists there is a “legal path” towards secession from the U.S. and is currently collecting signatories for a petition calling for a Californian independence referendum.
In 2010 then Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia argued individual states do not have the legal right to leave the American Union.
He said: “If there was any constitutional issue resolved by the Civil War, it is that there is no right to secede.”
According to AP as of 8:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday, Harris had 58.9 percent of the vote in California, versus 38.1 percent for Trump, with 76 percent of the vote counted. This is a significant improvement for Trump in the Golden State compared to 2020, when he got 34.3 percent of the vote, and 2016 when he picked up 31.5 percent.
The November 5 elections saw significant gains for Texas independence campaigners, with 10 Republicans who had pledged support for a referendum on Texas leaving the U.S. being elected to the state legislature, according to the secessionist Texas Nationalist Movement (TNM).
Speaking to Newsweek, TNM President Daniel Miller previously said: “Our momentum is undeniable. We’re closer than ever to securing a vote on Texas independence.”