A Mississippi legislator has apologised for his "poor lack of judgment" - but not his spelling - after calling for the state to "succeed" from the US.
Price Wallace, a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives, said on his Twitter account his state should quit the US and form its "own country" after Democrat candidate Joe Biden won the US election.
Many Republicans, from President Donald Trump down, have refused to accept the results of the election, despite Biden's margin in the popular vote surpassing 5 million, and electoral officials in all 50 states saying they have found no evidence of widespread fraud or voting irregularities.
Trump won Mississippi easily, 60 percent to 39.
Wallace was replying to a tweet by former Mississippi state representative Robert Foster, who said "majority does not rule".
"Democrats and their Fake News Cheerleaders are about to get a hard lesson in civics," Foster wrote.
"We need to succeed from the union and form our own country," replied Wallace, presumably meaning to write 'secede'.
He later deleted the tweet, and issued an apology.
"I truly love the USA and Mississippi and would never support any idea of seceding from the union. I am extremely sorry for my comment it was inappropriate and in no way represents the will of my constituents or myself. I humbly ask for forgiveness for my poor lack of judgment."
It's impossible for any state to unilaterally secede from the US without a fight, according to a court ruling from 1869, the Washington Post reported.
Mississippi would likely struggle without the rest of the US. It's one of just six states which receives twice as much in federal funding than it gives back, data shows.
Trump has launched legal action in several states to get the results of the election overturned, providing as evidence little more than affidavits.
