#Calexit and #Caleavefornia: Secession murmurs on the internet in Clinton’s bluest state

A demonstrator wears a headpiece depicting the crown of the Statue of Liberty during a protest in San Francisco, California, U.S. following the election of Donald Trump as the president of the United States November 9, 2016. REUTERS/Stephen Lam

Sometime on Tuesday night as counting of votes progressed across states in the US, California, with its big bag of 55 electoral votes, sat pretty waiting to be declared for Democratic contender Hillary Clinton. And soon, it did. But the sad fact is that the state, home to Silicon Valley and Hollywood, and considered the ‘bluest’ state for the Democrats could not save the day for Clinton. With Donald Trump sweeping the white-dominated industrial belt of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and North Carolina, there was nothing Clinton could do. Later as news organisations began to call the election for the Republican candidate, there were angry murmurs on social media later translating to calls for secession of California from America. But there were also others who said California couldn’t even survive on its own, with a crunch in basic resources and a huge debt factor.

Used with hashtags like #Calexit on the lines of Brexit and #Caleavefornia, people were tweeting calling for the state to break out from the country. Unlike the Brexit referendum, this demand is expected to be met with derision by the authorities and the two major parties. But the mere thought of people not wanting to go through a Trump presidency should be reason for alarm. The most populous state in the country, California could become the world’s sixth largest economy if it were to be a country, thanks largely to the tech campuses, film industry and a booming real estate.

These are some of the tweets:

1/ If Trump wins I am announcing and funding a legitimate campaign for California to become its own nation.

— Shervin (@shervin) November 9, 2016

2/Most patriotic thing to do is to questioning idea of a federation of states & calling a new constitutional convention for systemic change

— Shervin (@shervin) November 9, 2016

Seriously. What are the steps to make this possible??? We must secede!! #Calexit

— Perez (@ThePerezHilton) November 9, 2016

Proudly Californian #Calexit pic.twitter.com/4sLeIPJWwY

— Toni Payne (@tonipayne) November 10, 2016

Great! More jobs for American wall builders. We’ll just extend the wall! #Calexit pic.twitter.com/Rf3dzUq7uc

— Mandi (@MissMandi00) November 9, 2016

Compounding the calls for secession are the string of protests across California and the rest of the country led by people who are opposing a Trump presidency. Protesters with placards like ‘Not our president’ and ‘no to racism’ filled streets to condemn the election of the billionaire mogul as the next president of the country. The protests were also a signal that the country, divided as it was by the election campaign, is likely to sink to further depths over fears of what a Trump presidency could do to sections of the society. There were also calls to ‘impeach Trump’ and ‘abolish electoral college.’