Protesters against president-elect Donald Trump march peacefully through Oakland, California. Noah Berger/Reuters
"Calexit" is swiftly taking over social media.
After Donald Trump won the race to the White House, people across California took to social media Tuesday night to call for "Calexit," recalling Brexit in its push to leave the union.
As the topic continues to trend on Twitter, Californians in favor of seceeding from the US will gather today on the steps of the capitol in Sacramento.
The group leading the charge,
Yes California Independence Campaign, assembled long before Trump's surprising victory. Its aim is to put a referendum on the 2019 ballot that, if passed, would make California an independent country.
A young person waves an American flag during a anti-Trump demonstration in Oakland, California. Noah Berger/Reuters
The movement has racked up some impressive backers already. Shervin Pishevar, an early investor in Uber and well-known angel investor,
claimed on Twitter that he would bankroll a campaign to make California its own nation if Trump won.
In an
interview with CNBC on Wednesday, he confirmed his mission.
"It's the most patriotic thing I can do," he told CNBC. "The country is at serious crossroads. ... Calling it New California."
He expressed a desire that California, the sixth largest economy in the world, in terms of GDP, might become a catalyst for a "national dialogue" as the country reaches a "tipping point."
Louis Marinelli is at the helm of Yes California Independence Campaign.
Wikimedia Commons
The president of Yes California, Louis Marinelli, is
one of the state's most unorthodox political thinkers. The Buffalo, New York, native and current California resident served as the former interim chairman of the California National Party, whose primary goal is achieving California's independence from the US, and worked as an English as a second language teacher in Russia.
In 2015, Marinelli paid $200 each to get nine initiatives related to California's secession on a statewide ballot. He also ran a failed campaign for a seat in the
California State Assembly.
"What's going on in the US politically and culturally is so different from what's happening here," Marinelli
told The LA Times in 2015. "I want California to be all it can, and our group feels the political and cultural connection to the US is holding us back from our potential."
Follow
Yes California @YesCalifornia
They said Donald Trump wouldn't happen. They said
#Brexitwouldn't happen. What're you going to say if they tell you
#Calexitwon't happen?
4:20 AM - 9 Nov 2016
The fringe political movement gathered steam in June, when the United Kingdom broke from the European Union.
"This is the first Western secessionist movement that worked, and I think that is going to be very profound," Marinelli
told Newsweek shortly after Brexit. "Are you going to say to people in the freest country in the world [you] don't have the right to self-determination?"
Twitter had this to say:
Follow
Tom Haverford @_AverageAndrew
WA , OR, and CA secede from the US.
#Calexit we would be the worlds chillest country.
10:42 PM - 8 Nov 2016
Follow
@LeasLame
We'll just take our avocados and legal weed and go
#CalExit#CalifrEXIT
1:54 AM - 9 Nov 2016
Follow
theresa ireland @theresaireland
#Calexit I'm all in for this! We're basically in our own little world anyway. And let's elect
#BernieSanders as our supreme leader!
10:26 AM - 9 Nov 2016
Others expressed greater uncertainty about the idea of Calexit.
Follow
Mr. BrightPsyd @TannersCarSick
Remember when Texas wanted to secede and all the liberals were screaming about it?
#CalExit
10:26 AM - 9 Nov 2016
Follow
Vexxy ➹ Daniel @VexxyMC
So disgusted with the sore looser Democrats that are actually thinking about breaking up our country. You should be disgusted
#Calexit
10:49 AM - 9 Nov 2016
Follow
URC @TheURCShow
Go ahead, California.....secede. Just don't expect any fresh water from the other 49!
#Calexit
10:45 AM - 9 Nov 2016
