Texas Democrat Senate candidate James Talarico is getting pilloried on social media over an odd choice in political allies.
People on social media are calling out Talarico over his endorsement of a candidate who downplayed the severity of child molestation.
Back in December, Tejano music star Bobby Pulido, who is running for Congress, and Talarico endorsed each other during a rally in South Texas.
From the Texas Tribune:
In a joint Democratic rally in South Texas, U.S. Senate hopeful James Talarico and Tejano music star Bobby Pulido, who is running for Congress, endorsed each other, forming an early alliance this election cycle and solidifying Talarico’s intentions of wooing Latino voters.
Pulido and Talarico praised each other’s desire to look beyond party lines as they both hope to gain the support of Latinos who voted for Donald Trump in the 2024 election.
“We refuse to be confined to our party,” said Talarico, a state representative from Austin. “We’re speaking to something deeper in this state and in this country, and I think you’re already seeing it in Bobby’s campaign. He is bringing people together across the political spectrum.”
Pulido, who is running to be the nominee in Texas’ 15th Congressional District, said he’d been a fan of Talarico since before he gained popularity online from his interviews or his speeches on the floor of the Texas House.
Bobby Pulido said molesting children is “not necessarily rape” after bringing a registered sex offender to a middle school.
— Republicans (@Republicans) August 25, 2026
Now Talarico is proudly campaigning alongside him. https://t.co/76akr2qthP
During an interview with USA Today, Pulido noted that he does not agree with all of Talarico’s comments, especially his contention that God is “nonbinary.” But still believes he’s the right choice to represent the Lone Star State in the Senate.
Pulido, a two-time Latin Grammy winner, is challenging Republican Rep. Monica De La Cruz in the 15th Congressional District in the upcoming midterms. But his past comments and associations could become a problem.
Pulido performed and recorded with accordionist Frankie Caballero in the 1990s and continued touring with him even after he was convicted in 2014 for indecent contact with an 8-year-old girl and is still registered as a sex offender.
The two musicians performed at a benefit concert in 2018 to raise money for a middle school where children were in the audience. Pulido’s campaign manager told the New York Post, “Bobby was never made aware of Caballero’s sex offender registration and would never knowingly associate with anyone with that kind of history. Bobby extends his deepest sympathies and support to all of the victims involved.”
But Pulido wrote a post on X in 2018 that has come back to haunt him.
Child molestation is abhorrent. But is not necessarily rape or murder, what you said. My point, and Geraldo’s point, is they have been unfairly demonized. It’s like if I said that whites shouldn’t be able to buy guns because most mass shooters are white
Child molestation is abhorrent. But is not necessarily rape or murder, what you said. My point, and Geraldo’s point, is they have been unfairly demonized. It’s like if I said that whites shouldn’t be able to buy guns because most mass shooters are white
— Bobby Pulido (@bobbypulido425) August 23, 2018
He wrote these comments just days after the benefit concert.
Imagine how folks on the left would react if a Republican candidate was friendly with someone who downplayed child abuse and performed for years with a sex offender who targeted an eight-year-old girl?
But, given his advocacy for subjecting children to “gender affirming care,” perhaps Talarico doesn’t think harming children is that big of a deal as well.
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