Similarly, some Silicon Valley investors are calling for California to secede from the U.S. Venture capitalist and Hyperloop One co-founder Shervin Pishevar took to Twitter posting a series of tweets announcing plans to fund “a legitimate campaign for California to become its own nation.” The potential movement has been dubbed ‘Calexit’, ‘Califrexit’ and ‘Caleavefornia’ on Twitter. Pishevar told CNBC that he is serious about the campaign, adding that the proposed independent nation would be called “New California.” “It’s the most patriotic thing I can do,” Pishevar said. “The country is at a serious crossroads… We can re-enter the union after California becomes a nation. As the sixth largest economy in the world, the economic engine of the nation and provider of a large percentage of the federal budget, California carries a lot of weight.” He also added that the U.S. needs to “confront the systematic problems that this election has exposed.” Speaking to Fusion, Pishevar said, “Everyone is in shock that we have a reality TV star that has said incredibly racist and sexist things as our next president. People say he was legitimately elected, but Hitler was also legitimately elected. This is a very dark and scary time in our country. I don’t buy into this idea that just because he was elected we have to fall in line.” According to the International Monetary Fund, California had the sixth largest economy in the world with a gross state product of $2.496 trillion in 2015. In addition, the state is a key stronghold for Democrats and is more politically advanced than other states in the country. Other entrepreneurs and investors including Cheezburger founder Ben Huh, Path founder David Morin and Design, Inc. CEO Marc Hemeon also voiced their support for Pishevar’s proposal as well. https://twitter.com/davemorin/status/796191496152043520

— Marc Hemeon (@hemeon) November 9, 2016 https://twitter.com/shervin/status/796234706022842368 The group that is leading the charge is Yes California Independence Campaign. However, the movement has been gathering steam on social media after Tuesday’s result. Launched in 2015, its aim is to put a referendum on the 2019 ballot that, if passed, would make California an independent country. “As the sixth largest economy in the world, California is more economically powerful than France and has a population larger than Poland,” Yes California said in a statement. “Point by point, California compares and competes with countries, not just the 49 other states.”

— #Calexit Campaign (@YesCalifornia) November 9, 2016 Evan Low, a Democrat serving in the California State Assembly, said that he would support the introduction of a bill to start the independence process. The proposal illustrates the technology industry’s frustration with Trump over his repeated criticisms of Silicon Valley companies.

— Evan Low (@Evan_Low) November 6, 2016 Soon after Trump won the election, Pishevar submitted his resignation as a member of the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board saying he could not “serve with a good conscious” under President Trump in any capacity. https://twitter.com/shervin/status/796300025303302148 Over the course of the campaign season, more than 145 business leaders from tech behemoths such as Facebook, Google and Apple had penned an open letter this summer warning how a Trump presidency “would be a disaster for innovation.” Other founders and tech investors spoke up in recent months against Trump’s fiscal policies, immigration proposals and temperament. While many in Silicon Valley expressed their sadness over the election result, they also said it is time to get back to work. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg issued a public statement on the election results on Wednesday night saying, “This work is bigger than any presidency and progress does not move in a straight line.” “Holding Max, I thought about all the work ahead of us to create the world we want for our children,” Zuckerberg wrote in a Facebook post. “We are all blessed to have the opportunity to make the world better, and we have the responsibility to do it. Let’s go work even harder.” Source: The Guardian