Flavor Flav Explains Bizarre Photo with Steve Mnuchin

Flavor Flav says it was a chance encounter at a swanky hotel that led to him snapping a photo with Steve Mnuchin -- nothing strange about it ... in his eyes, anyway.

The Public Enemy rapper's surprising pic with President Trump's Treasury Secretary left Twitter fans flummoxed Thursday after he posted it with the caption, "F**k politics - but I'm always happy to talk to anyone about the importance of knowing when your time is up."

Turns out, Flav actually met Mnuchin "a little while back" -- he doesn't say exactly when -- at the Hotel Bel-Air when he was having lunch. He tells us Steve and his wife, Louise Linton, called him over to say hi ... apparently, she's a fan.

So, the rapper says he went over to their table and exchanged pleasantries, but before Mnuchin left ... Flav was adamant he had to get a picture with the guy.

Flav doesn't specify why he felt this way, but he makes it clear it wasn't about politics. He says his partner, Chuck D, is the political one ... and that's pretty clear in their new track, as well.