California Governor Gavin Newsom has made headlines since Donald Trump's presidential election victory, releasing a statement this week saying his state would "stand firm" against the winds of the incoming administration.
Newsom, a Democrat who may have ambitions on the national stage, said in a defiant video posted on social media that while he wanted the president to succeed, he added: "I'm not naive either, and we're pragmatic, and we will stand firm."
Following Trump's electoral victory, Newsom called for California lawmakers to convene a special session to safeguard the state's progressive policies ahead of the Republican's second term in the White House.
With Newsom's efforts making the news, rumors began circulating that he planned to take California out of the Union.
The Claim
Multiple posts on X, formerly Twitter, state that Newsom wants to secede California from the rest of the United States.
A post by user @OcrazioCornPop, posted on November 9, 2024, said: "REPORT: Governor Gavin Newsome is considering plans to secede from the Union in order to prevent Trump from deporting illegal aliens and implementing Voter ID laws."
Another post by @GayRepublicSwag, posted on November 10, 2024, said: "Gavin Newsom is reportedly considering seceding California from the United States in order to stop the deportation of illegals.
"Your reaction?"
The Facts
This is by no means the first time California secession has been part of public conversation. The state's secession movement "Yes California" has been running since 2015, with political activist Louis Marinelli telling Newsweek earlier this year that a national divorce was needed to avoid another "civil war."
The movement campaign on a ballot measure called CalExit 3.1, which would break California into two and establish a country separate from the U.S. in the San Francisco Bay area and along the central California coast,
A YouGov survey from February 2024 also found that a majority of Californians agreed they would be "better off" if it peacefully seceded from the union and had a "friendly relationship" with the United States.
It's also not the first time that Newsom has arguably portrayed as a self-sufficient outlier, repeatedly referring to it in 2020 as a "nation-state" as he governed efforts to lead it out of the pandemic.
However, he also criticized Republicans who have casually proposed secession. In September 2023, after Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene wrote on X that states should consider seceding over the President Joe Biden administration's response to immigration, Newsom replied: "The @GOP of today: Casually promoting secession. It's politics over country. Every. Single. Time."
While the California governor may be making attempts to shield his state from Trump's legislative plans, the claim he wants to secede California from the union is unsubstantiated.
Claims otherwise appear to be editorial comment represented as fact without any sources or evidence.
Newsweek has contacted a media representative for Newsom via email for comment.
After Newsom's office told The Associated Press that the governor and lawmakers were ready to "Trump-proof" California's state laws, the president-elect called the Democrat "Newscum," accusing him on Truth Social of "using the term 'Trump-Proof' as a way of stopping all of the GREAT things that can be done to 'Make California Great Again.'"
The Ruling
False.
There is no evidence that Newsom wants to secede California from the Union. There are no public statements or well-placed commentary confirming or suggesting this. While Newsom has referred to California as a "nation-state" before, he has criticized Republicans who have casually proposed secession elsewhere in the country.
FACT CHECK BY Newsweek's Fact Check team
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