I couldn’t help but stick the knife in a little bit and said something like “oh I keep reading all these news articles about people moving away from CA to places like Texas!”

i.e.

https://cbsaustin.com/news/nation-world/population-exodus-california-new-york-and-illinois-faced-unprecedented-declines-in-2023-high-tax-big-government-policies-blue-states-residents-move-south-low-tax-florida-texas-tennessee-georgia