Pitbull on the election: 'Every presidential candidate' wants to meet with me

The star, who will release 'Climate Change' on Oct. 7, says he won't make a public endorsement anytime soon

Published on September 7, 2016 02:32PM EDT

Pitbull is not the biggest fan of America’s political system. On the Kiesza-assisted title track from his upcoming album, Climate Change, due Oct. 7, he dismisses politics as “politricks” and accuses elected officials of dishonesty and general shiftiness. He has similar feelings when it comes to this year’s presidential campaign. “What’s going on in 2016, it’s like the WWF out there, it’s like Hulk Hogan versus Andre the Giant,” Pitbull tells EW. “How real do we take this?”

But that’s as far as he’ll go when it comes to discussing the candidates. Though many Latino stars such as Eva Longoria and America Ferrara have spoken out against Donald Trump and his comments on Latinos and immigration, don’t expect an endorsement from Pitbull one way or another “until the time is right,” he says.

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“This whole campaign, man, I’ve had every presidential candidate try to meet up and talk about certain things,” he says. “I’m all about listening to what’s going on and what the future may hold if they got their hands on the country. But you’ve got to sit back and watch them play out because sometimes people become self destructive. A lot of people don’t really know how to deal with fame and power at the same time. It can be a dangerous concoction.”

As for what the campaigns wanted from him, Pitbull continues:

At the end of the day what they’re looking for is the Latin vote. They know how we represent our culture, how we represent our communities, how much weight our actions have. When Barack Obama came down to Florida on his last campaign run, I went and spoke at his rally over here. And if you watch it, notice I didn’t—not one time—say, “Vote for Barack Obama.” Nah, I said, “Thank you, Barack Obama, for giving me the chance to tell my story on this platform today.” And that’s how I feel about everybody. The beautiful thing about this country is you have a right to make a decision. That’s why it’s called freedom. I don’t knock anybody, and I try not to really get too connected to people. But I do one way or another know how to move our culture in the direction of what I may be thinking. But in no way shape or form do I like to over-exert that power. So anytime that we come out, they go, “Okay, listen to what Armando’s talking about, because he’s not always around here looking for a quick splash.” And what I mean by splash is, it’s no longer 15 minutes of fame. It’s 15 seconds. These people come and go quick. I sit back and see who’s really going to survive and then figure out how to help.

Pitbull on the election: 'Every presidential candidate' wants to meet with me

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