Cuban-American hip-hop artist Armando Christian Pérez, known to fans as Pitbull, had a straight-forward message to Americans who despise their own country during a recent performance.
“To whoever the f*** doesn’t like the United States of America, may god bless you, but f*** you at the same time,” he said on stage.
In a video recorded by a fan at the front row of the concert, you can hear the audience cheer loudly in response.
Pitbull, whose parents migrated to the United States from communist-controlled Cuba, continued to slam unpatriotic Americans.
“If you don’t like the United States of America, go back to the countries that we the f*** from, and you’ll see how much you appreciate the United States of America,” he said.
According to the Miami Herald, it was not immediately clear where the performance was taking place. With COVID restrictions still in effect throughout the United States, it’s not uncommon even for high-profile performers like Pitbull being forced to cancel large events. This apparently was not one of them.
This is also not the first time Pitbull has been publicly patriotic. On July 4th of 2020, the Cuban-American singer thanked his family for making the move from their home country to the USA, noting that he wouldn’t have the same opportunities otherwise.
“Thank you Abuela and Tia for getting my mom out of Cuba through Pedro Pan. It gave me the chance to be born in the USA to enjoy its freedom and create my own destiny,” he said.
Pitbull stands out as a star in the entertainment industry willing to put his patriotism on his sleeve. As most readers already know, it’s fashionable for celebrities to be critical or even hateful of America’s legacy. In many cases, these were people who were born into privilege. It makes sense that Pitbull, who understands his family’s struggle and passion for freedom, doesn’t see America in the same way.
The singer also stands out from many other foreign-born entertainers — and ordinary immigrants-turned-citizens — that support the policies of the countries they risked their lives to leave. This is a strange phenomenon, but it’s not too uncommon. Even within the United States, we’ve seen Americans leave places like California and New York to live in red states like Florida and Texas. Despite the move, they continue to vote for candidates that support those same big government policies that forced them to move in the first place.
