CalExit Calls For California's Secession Following Shock Election Result

In the wake of Donald Trump’s election to the office of President of the United States, America stands divided. Protests have been held across the country, and Californians in particular have come up with an idea for how to escape living under Trump’s rule.
Much of America was shocked by the outcome of this year’s election, in part because most major polls in the weeks leading up to November 8th predicted that Hillary Clinton would defeat Trump by a comfortable margin. This election has been a particularly controversial one, highlighting the severe polarization present in the United States. California was one out of 21 states whose votes went to the democratic candidate, compared to the 29 states that went Republican. Trump won the electoral college vote, and therefore the presidency, in spite of the fact that Clinton won the popular vote.

As the election results became clear, Twitter began blowing up with the hashtag ‘#CalExit’ as California citizens voiced their support for their state to follow in Britain’s footsteps and secede from the United States as a whole. Some Twitter users chose to include the entire west coast in their secession advocacy, using the hashtag #WestCoastSecession, acknowledging the fact that both Oregon and Washington also went democratic in this election.

https://twitter.com/VaguelyGrim/status/796385027680387076

https://twitter.com/umagp/status/796223454634594304

https://twitter.com/GravityisRising/status/796213587861651456

https://twitter.com/CaliSeparatist/status/796301014697656320

The question is: Can this secession really happen? Long before Trump’s presidency was established, the Yes California campaign began in an effort to separate California from the Union. Advocates cite the fact that California on its own has the sixth-largest economy in the world, claiming that working with the rest of the country’s economy may be hindering the state’s economic success. Check out the Yes California website for more of the persuasive arguments for CalExit. On the other hand, a potential secession is drumming up many uncertainties. Critics are asking: Where will California get water during drought season? What will happen to America when left with a wide majority of Republican voters? The CalExit campaign may soon bring those answers into the forefront of the media.

About the author

Courtney Holcomb

Editor of The Culture Trip's San Francisco section, Courtney is a writer, manager, yoga instructor, feminist, and arts enthusiast. Attempting to fill her days with as much creativity and humanity as possible, she loves to explore the unique spaces and cultural happenings taking place around her, taking inspiration from them to fill these pages with topics like travel, art, literature, music, wellness, and nature along the way.