Bobby Pulido’s resurfaced 2016 defense of a graphic music video has stirred fresh controversy as he runs for Congress, reigniting scrutiny over his past social media posts and choices about associates, and prompting sharp criticism from Republicans who say his pattern of dismissing troubling conduct shows poor judgment.
In a 2016 interview, Pulido defended fellow singer Gerardo Ortiz after a music video showed scenes of extreme violence and sexual assault. Critics described the clip as depicting a man who shoots his partner’s lover, restrains and gropes her, locks her in a trunk and sets the car on fire, a portrayal many found grotesque and dangerous to normalize.
Pulido framed the controversy as an artistic decision and pushed back against those who wanted the footage removed. “I’ve made videos with suggestive images; some have stayed, others have been edited, and still others were never used. That’s the decision of the artist and their team,” he said, defending creative latitude even when content offends many viewers.
The response to that defense lands differently now that Pulido is a congressional candidate in Texas’ 15th District, a highly contested seat where character questions matter. Voters and opponents are revisiting past actions and posts to judge whether a candidate respects public safety and basic decency or dismisses serious concerns as mere provocation.
Pulido’s record shows more than one eyebrow-raising episode. He faced criticism for posting links to explicit sites on his social account and for a social media photo that appeared to show him urinating on President Donald Trump’s Hollywood Walk of Fame star, which he later called a joke and played down.
On those incidents he has offered blunt, casual defenses, once saying “it’s impossible to have Twitter and not watch porn,” and explaining the Trump photo as a prank where he had only poured water on the star. Such offhand remarks have done little to reassure voters who expect candidates to take responsibility for their public behavior.
Another episode that drew attention was Pulido bringing a registered sex offender to a middle school benefit concert in 2018, a move his campaign later defended by saying he did not know the man’s status. He has called the coverage of that decision a “nothing story,” a dismissal that many view as tone-deaf given the stakes around child safety.
When asked to put the Ortiz video in context, Pulido again minimized the alarm, asking skeptically, “What happens when there’s a [car] accident?” and arguing that curiosity and outrage simply mirror how people react to real-life tragedy. “Traffic doesn’t flow because people slow down or even stop to see what happened; something similar happens with the regional Mexican genre when these kinds of incidents occur.” Those comparisons struck critics as a weak excuse for imagery that many see as glamorizing violence against women.
Republican voices were swift and sharp in response. “Bobby Pulido has spent his entire adult life defending perverts and predators while lashing out at members of law enforcement who keep Texans safe. He is a truly sick individual who is morally rotten,” said Zach Kraft, a spokesperson for the Republican National Committee, in a statement criticizing Pulido’s pattern of defenses.
The Pulido campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment about his past defenses or whether he now regrets downplaying conduct that many find disturbing. With the general election looming, voters in the district will weigh whether artistic license or habitual minimization of serious issues reflects the judgment they want in Congress.
