Just when you thought the parade of terrible ideas had reached its limit, CalExit is back with a new initiative to put California’s secession on the 2026 ballot. Yes, the most delusional, impractical, and Kremlin-cheered pipe dream of our time has returned, despite its repeated failures and universal ridicule.
This isn’t just a bad idea—it’s a spectacularly bad idea. Of course, the aim isn’t to actually make it happen, but to normalize the concept, cause division, and give Americans a reason to attack one another. But America is bigger than that, stronger than that, and frankly, too great to be undone by a few disillusioned cranks and their Kremlin cheerleaders.
We can’t talk about CalExit without mentioning its interesting history. While its proponents insist the movement is homegrown, the idea has been gleefully boosted by Russian government-backed media and trolls looking to destabilize our country. Since they can’t get Alaska back, Moscow apparently settled on the next best thing: convincing a few California loons to indulge their fever dreams. Russia’s state-run media outlets and troll farms eagerly talk up CalExit talking points, pushing secession as if it were some great populist uprising rather than the fever dream of a handful of weirdos.
And it’s not just California. Putin’s propaganda machine has played the same game in Texas, where they’ve pushed Texit on the right, using the same divide-and-conquer strategy. The goal isn’t actually to cause secession—nobody in Moscow seriously believes Texas or California will leave the Union. The point is to normalize the idea, inject chaos into American politics, and erode national unity. This is part of a larger Russian strategy to weaken the U.S., a strategy straight from Putin himself. Remember, this is the guy who called the dissolution of the Soviet Union “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century.” Americans, of course, rightly cheered the end of the Soviet empire, but Putin has been obsessed with revenge ever since. If he can’t rebuild the USSR, he’ll settle for seeing America splinter into warring factions.
This is the Overton window in action—Putin and his propaganda machine aren’t aiming for an actual breakup of the U.S. (they know that’s a fantasy). Instead, they want to make secession an acceptable topic, a plausible option to enough people that it festers and spreads. By pushing fringe movements like CalExit and Texit, the Kremlin hopes to inject division deep into American political discourse, bogging the country down in endless internal struggles. Every second Americans spend debating secession is a second not spent countering Russia’s geopolitical ambitions or standing by our allies. If America is distracted, Russia can pursue its imperial dreams with less interference.
What’s truly hilarious about this is that the Russian government—the same one that has turned its own country into a dysfunctional wreck—thinks it can sow discontent in a nation as strong and resilient as the United States. California isn’t some fragile state on the brink of collapse. It is deeply woven into the American fabric and home to industries that drive the entire world forward. From Silicon Valley to San Diego, California is America, and no Kremlin-backed fantasy can change that.
In 2017, one of the original CalExit organizers reportedly fled to Russia and sought permanent residence there after the movement’s links to Russian interests became undeniable. Russian propagandists have openly cheered on the idea, giving it the same level of credibility as those bot-driven campaigns insisting the moon landing was faked.
Practically speaking, CalExit has zero chance of success. Why? Because the Constitution doesn’t allow it. This isn’t 1861. These guys can’t just throw a temper tantrum and demand a separate country. Even if a ballot initiative somehow passed (spoiler alert: it won’t even make the ballot), the federal government isn’t going to just let the state waltz out the door. Secessionists should take a civics class—or at least read a history book that doesn’t have a Putin-approved stamp on it.
And let’s talk about logistics. If California somehow became an independent country, what happens to Social Security recipients? How would the state fund a military? Who controls the water coming from the Colorado River? Are we issuing new passports? What about federal land? Are we kicking the U.S. Navy out of San Diego? The sheer lack of thought behind this idea is staggering.
Once again, a well-reasoned proposal isn’t the objective. The real goal is to drag rational people into debating the minutiae of secession, subtly lending legitimacy to the idea. It’s a classic propaganda trick—force the discussion, and suddenly, what was once absurd becomes a topic worthy of debate. By engaging with these fringe notions, the Overton window shifts, making secession seem less radical and more plausible, all to sow division and weaken America from within.
Supporters of this movement can keep collecting signatures, but they might as well be petitioning for California to colonize another galaxy. It’s not happening. The only thing CalExit succeeds in doing is giving Kremlin-backed propagandists another chance to generate, then spotlight, dysfunction. And that’s the real point. While some insist they have no foreign backing, their absurd initiative is yet another gift to America’s enemies.
So, the next time you see a CalExit supporter (you’ll need a microscope to find one), ask them how they plan to handle national defense, economic collapse, and political anarchy. Watch as their eyes glaze over and they start talking about “sovereignty” and “self-determination” without a clue how any of it would actually work.
Remind them California is already part of the greatest, most powerful nation on Earth—a nation that, for all its flaws, doesn’t need a bunch of confused crackpots playing right into Russian hands.
Nice try, cranks. But California — and America — aren’t going anywhere.
Ron Nehring served as Chairman of the California Republican Party, Republican nominee for Lt. Governor, and Presidential campaign spokesman for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). He lectures extensively on strategic communications and information warfare.