A former California Republican Party chair has raised alarms about alleged Russian interference in state secession movements, claiming the Kremlin is actively promoting efforts to separate California and Texas from the United States.
Ron Nehring, who led the California Republican Party from 2007 to 2011, warns that Russian-backed media and online trolls are amplifying calls for "Calexit" and "Texit" - campaigns pushing for California and Texas to become independent nations.
"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," Nehring wrote in a recent op-ed for Flash Report.
The warning comes as California's Secretary of State approved a campaign to gather signatures for putting state independence on the 2028 ballot. The initiative needs 546,651 signatures by July 2025 to qualify.
According to researchers at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Russian social media accounts have been supporting these separatist movements. Even Russia's former president Dmitry Medvedev has publicly joked about backing the initiatives.
However, leaders of the independence movements strongly reject claims of Russian influence. Daniel Miller, head of the Texas Nationalist Movement, called Nehring's allegations "ridiculous and revealing."
"TEXIT is about Texans reclaiming their right to self-governance," Miller told Newsweek. "Instead of addressing the legitimate concerns behind the movement, he throws out tired conspiracy theories."
Nehring suggests Putin's strategy isn't aimed at actually breaking up the United States, but rather at normalizing secession talks to create internal division. As the two largest state economies, California and Texas's theoretical departure would severely impact the U.S. economy.
Legal experts note that state secession remains unconstitutional under U.S. law, as established by Supreme Court precedent following the Civil War. Even if California's potential 2028 ballot measure passed, it would hold no legal power to separate the state from the union.