With the Presidential Primaries coming to an end, the Republican and Democratic parties both confirmed last night that their Presidential nominees will be businessman Donald Trump and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton respectively.
This news has ravaged the American public as many call their victory “the best of mad men.” As of this morning, it has also become clear that many Americans are actually following through with their threats to leave the country if Trump wins the nomination.
CNN caught Dean Kamen, the famous inventor of the Segway, for an interview before he boarded his private jet at JFK International Airport last night. When reporters asked why he was leaving, Kamen said that “the 2016 election is like America shooting itself in the foot and calling it progress. I just don’t want to get crushed when it falls over.”
Like Kamen, a good number of US citizens have rushed to border crossings ever since the nominations seemed imminent. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) released a statement stating that there has been a 250% increase in U.S. citizens emigrating to Canada and a 316% increase for those heading to Mexico.
Anthony Garcia, a U.S. citizen originally from Argentina, was one of many people interviewed by CNN News as he made his trek south. “When I was young, my family came to America seeking a better life than what we had in Argentina and we found it,” Garcia told the reporters. “Lately though, this country has been going down the toilet so I’m getting out before we all get stuck.”
[one_third]“Lately though, this country has been going down the toilet so I’m getting out before we all get stuck.”
U.S. citizen Anthony Garcia
[/one_third]In Hawaii, a traditionally blue state, airlines flying to Japan, Australia, South Korea, and China are reporting full flights out of Honolulu as outraged residents realize how crazy their neighbors really are. Trump recently won the Hawaii Republican Caucus with 42% of the votes. “How could we let [Trump] win?” Waipahu resident James Yamamoto exclaimed as he wheeled his luggage towards the Korean Airlines check-in kiosks.
In the last stretch of his presidency, President Barack Obama has not seen a reprieve from this issue as well. With the sudden increase in U.S. emigration, foreign leaders, most notably from the European Union have called the President to notify him of the stringent immigration guidelines and caps that have been established in light of the Syrian refugee crisis. “I was surprised when I received a call from Ms. Merkel (German Chancellor) telling me that 30,000 of my citizens had entered her country within the past two weeks,” Obama said. “Under the circumstances though, I understand why they left because I would be scared as well.”
According to a recent Gallup-MSNBC News poll, 5 million citizens are projected to leave within the next two years regardless of who actually wins the election. However, officials say that the number will depend on who actually becomes the next President. “If Hillary wins, the highest number of people who walk away won’t exceed 20 million,” Timothy Howell, a Gallup pollster, told CNN reporters. “But if Donald gets in the office, half of the country might pack up and leave… The guy’s a nut job.”
Click here to see a map showing which Oahu neighborhoods voted in favor of Trump during the Republican caucus.
