In a 2016 interview, Latin Grammy Award-winning artist and Democratic congressional candidate Bobby Pulido defended a fellow singer against criticism for a graphic music video that depicted acts of sexual violence and murder.
In the video production of "Fuiste Mia" or "You were mine" by Gerardo Ortiz, a singer walks in on his girlfriend cheating on him. After shooting her lover, he then handcuffs her to a pole, blindfolds her, and gropes her before putting her in the trunk of his car and setting it on fire.
In response to backlash, Pulido defended Ortiz, calling the video a matter of artistic direction.
"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," Pulido said in response to public backlash against the production.
Pulido's resurfaced response to the music video is the latest in a series of controversies he has tried to downplay as he pursues a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in Texas' 15th Congressional District - one of the country's most competitive seats.
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Pulido is best known for Tejano, or Mexican-Spanish folk-style, songs like "Desvelado" and "Se Murió de Amor," and received five nominations for a Latin Grammy Awards, winning Best Tejano Album in 2025 and 2022.
He filed to run for Congress in Texas' 15th District, challenging Rep. Monica De La Cruz, R-Texas. A two-term incumbent, she last won election to the district in 2024 in a 57.1% to 42.9% victory over Democratic nominee Michelle Vallejo.
Along the way, Pulido has drawn scrutiny for a resurfaced history of posting links to explicit websites on his personal X account - as well as for a social media post of what appeared to be him urinating on President Donald Trump's Hollywood Walk of Fame star. Pulido has shrugged off criticism for both, stating in 2024 that it's "it's impossible to have Twitter and not watch porn," and that he had only poured water on Trump's star as a joke.
More notably, Pulido has also had to fend off criticisms of bringing a registered sex offender to a Texas middle school benefit concert in 2018.
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In that case, Pulido denied knowledge of his associate's status at the time and has dismissed coverage of it as a "nothing story," according to Axios.
Similarly, in his defense of Ortiz, Pulido downplayed the music video, arguing that viewers had become accustomed to increasingly graphic images.
"What happens when there's a [car] accident?" Pulido asked, comparing the music video to real-life instances of 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.
Pulido in the 2016 interview also noted that he didn't agree always with his fellow artists' depictions of women but said he believes everyone is entitled to an opinion.
When asked about the music video and Pulido's response to it, his campaign framed it as a distraction from other elements in the race, including controversy on the Republican side of the aisle.
"This is emblematic of national Republicans doing anything and everything to distract voters from what are very real - not based on a fictional video - child abuse accusations against Monica De La Cruz and her refusal to release the Epstein files after thousands of girls were trafficked and abused," a Pulido campaign spokesperson said.
De La Cruz's former husband, Johnny Hernández, accused her of verbally abusing his 14-year-old daughter from a previous relationship in 2021 divorce proceedings. Authorities did not press charges or open an investigation into the allegations.
"Monica De La Cruz knows she's losing, so she's deploying the RNC to do her dirty work and deliberately mischaracterized a decade-old Spanish-language interview, in which Bobby said he respects artists' right to make their own music - a right that Republicans used to believe in but apparently don't when it comes to their opponents," the campaign added.
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At least one Republican onlooker is left unconvinced by the defense of the music video - and defenses of other past behaviors.
"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," Zach Kraft, a spokesperson for the Republican National Committee (RNC), said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
Having cleared their respective primaries, Pulido and De La Cruz will face off in the state's general elections on Nov. 3.
