A Texas Democrat running for one of the most competitive congressional seats in the country defended a music video showing a woman handcuffed, groped, and burned alive, and that is far from his only problem heading into November.

Bobby Pulido, a Latin Grammy-winning Tejano musician now challenging Republican Rep. Monica De La Cruz in Texas' 15th Congressional District, gave an interview in 2016 defending the music video for "Fuiste Mía" ("You Were Mine") by regional Mexican singer Gerardo Ortiz. In the video, a singer walks in on his girlfriend with another man, shoots the lover, then handcuffs the woman to a pole, blindfolds her, gropes her, and locks her in a car trunk before setting it on fire. Fox News Digital reported that the interview has now resurfaced as Pulido mounts his congressional bid.

Pulido did not condemn the video. He compared public fascination with it to rubbernecking at a car wreck. "What happens when there's a [car] accident?" Pulido said in the 2016 interview. "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."

He went further, framing the graphic content as an artistic choice that deserved deference.

"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."

The video depicted kidnapping, sexual assault, and murder. Pulido treated it as a matter of creative license.

Pulido's controversies stretch well beyond one interview

The 2016 video defense is only one entry in a growing catalog of problems for the Democratic hopeful. Resurfaced social media posts showed Pulido posting links to explicit websites on his personal X account. When critics flagged the posts, Pulido responded in 2024 by claiming "it's impossible to have Twitter and not watch porn."

Another social media post appeared to show Pulido urinating on President Donald Trump's Hollywood Walk of Fame star. Pulido later said he had only poured water on the star "as a joke."

Democrats have faced a string of conduct controversies in recent months. A House Ethics Committee probe into a California Democrat over sexual misconduct allegations underscored the pattern of accountability questions dogging the party's candidates and incumbents alike.

Perhaps most troubling is a 2018 incident in which Pulido brought a registered sex offender to a benefit concert at a Texas middle school. When the story surfaced, Pulido denied knowing about the individual's criminal history and dismissed the coverage as a "nothing story."

Pulido's bandmate served prison time for assaulting an eight-year-old girl

That dismissal looks worse in light of additional reporting. Breitbart reported that a resurfaced 2019 YouTube interview showed Pulido bragging about helping his bandmate, Frankie Caballero, get out of jail. Caballero was sentenced to four years in prison in 2014 for indecent sexual contact with a minor, an eight-year-old girl. His criminal history spans three decades and includes DWI, cocaine possession, sexual assault, and assault by strangulation resulting in a separate five-year prison sentence.

Pulido continued touring with Caballero after Caballero's release from prison. A former Hidalgo County prosecutor called Caballero's personal recognizance bond in a felony rape case "outrageous" and said it "only could have happened with the blessing of the DA's office," the New York Post reported.

The pattern is difficult to square with the judgment voters expect from a would-be congressman. Defending a video that glorifies sexual violence against women. Bringing a convicted child sex offender to a middle school. Bragging about springing that same offender from jail. Dismissing it all as a "nothing story."

RNC calls Pulido 'morally rotten' as campaign fires back

The Republican National Committee seized on the mounting controversies. RNC spokesperson Zach Kraft issued a statement to Fox News Digital:

"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."

Pulido's campaign responded by pivoting to attacks on De La Cruz. A campaign spokesperson accused national Republicans of orchestrating a smear:

"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."

The spokesperson added that 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."

The child abuse allegations the Pulido campaign referenced stem from De La Cruz's 2021 divorce proceedings. Her former husband, Johnny Hernández, accused her of verbally abusing his 14-year-old daughter from a previous relationship. Authorities did not press charges or open an investigation.

Ethical questions surrounding elected Democrats have not been limited to Texas. A controversial government contract tied to Rep. Pressley's husband drew scrutiny in Massachusetts, while internal party tensions have flared over everything from House leadership endorsement fights to conduct investigations.

De La Cruz won the district by 14 points in 2024

Pulido is challenging De La Cruz in a district that has drawn national attention as a competitive seat. But the incumbent's 2024 margin was decisive: De La Cruz won 57.1% to 42.9% over Democratic nominee Michelle Vallejo. Both Pulido and De La Cruz have cleared their respective primaries, and the general election is scheduled for November 3.

Pulido, known for Tejano hits "Desvelado" and "Se Murió de Amor," won the Best Tejano Album Latin Grammy in both 2022 and 2025 and has earned five nominations total. He held a campaign event with state Rep. James Talaricos in Edinburg, Texas, on February 27, 2026.

His musical credentials are not in question. His judgment is. A candidate who defended a video depicting a woman being sexually assaulted and burned alive, who brought a convicted child sex offender to a middle school, who bragged about helping that offender leave jail, and who dismissed all of it as political noise is now asking South Texas voters to send him to Congress.

Accountability scandals among elected officials are not unique to one party, as the recent suspension of the Corpus Christi mayor on misconduct charges showed. But voters in Texas' 15th District face a specific question about Pulido: whether a man with this record has any business representing them.

Democrats can talk about artistic freedom all they want. The video showed a woman restrained, groped, and set on fire, and the man who defended it wants a seat in Congress. South Texas voters deserve better than a candidate whose first instinct, every time, is to look the other way.