Calexit: Californians want to secede now that Trump won
With Donald Trump winning the presidential election, Californians had a brainwave on Twitter: Why not break away from the rest of the U.S. and go it alone?
After all, the state probably grows enough food to sustain itself, it has the sixth largest economy in the world, and it just passed recreational marijuana use. It doesn't really need those other states under a Trump presidency does it?
The only immediate problem that presented itself was what to call this genius idea. Some thought 'Califrexit' might work -- a portmanteau referencing the other act of massive self harm an electorate committed this year in the UK.
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Others thought that #Calexit might be a better term to describe the state's newfound freedom.
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Either way, numerous people were up for the break.
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The idea goes beyond a Twitter joke. One group, the Yes California Independence Campaign, is actually holding an event in Sacramento Wednesday in the hopes of gaining support for the idea.
"In our view, the United States of America represents so many things that conflict with Californian values, and our continued statehood means California will continue subsidizing the other states to our own detriment, and to the detriment of our children," their manifesto, which was written before Tuesday by the way, says.
However, no state has seceded from the U.S. since the Civil War so we won't be holding our breath.
Bonus: Who is Tammy Duckworth?
Topics Elections
Tim Chester was Senior Editor, Real Time News in Los Angeles. Before that he was Deputy Editor of Mashable UK in London. Prior to joining Mashable, Tim was a Senior Web Editor at Penguin Random House, helping to relaunch the Rough Guides website and other travel brands. He was also a writer for Buzzfeed, GQ and The Sunday Times, covering everything from culture to tech and current affairs. Before that, he was Deputy Editor at NME.COM, overseeing content and development on the London-based music and entertainment site. Tim loves music and travel and has combined these two passions at festivals from Iceland to Malawi and beyond.
