California is the boogeyman because for years because USA culture has been relatively downstream from what California generally embraces as societal norms. Recently, some of the ideas are insane and it's the reason Trump got elected.
The reasons Trump got elected are:
1. Dems got too comfy playing the traditional ground game canvassing knocking on doors, calling & texting, whereas Repubs were building presence on social media and snagged all the top podcast spots and had the big YouTube channels. Dems were hopelessly lagging behind on the social media game. It's the reason why you believe that bottom surgery is done under 18 in the US, it's why you think there were questions in GA in 2020, and it's why you hate CA with every fiber of your being but know very little about it.
2. Regarding his 2nd win, we saw 9% inflation under Biden due to covid & Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The whole world was experiencing inflation, and the US came out of it faster than most other countries, but it wasn't enough. In fact, worldwide, pretty much any politician of a democratic nation that was in power during this period lost it in the next election because of people's impressions of the economy. The same economic woes (this time due to tariffs and wars Trump started) are causing a swing back to the Dems now.
3. A good chunk of the electorate couldn't stand that a black man was in charge of our country for 8 years, and wouldn't stand a woman being president for another 4.