JD Vance says "called it abusive" about parents trying to stop children from transitioning

At a Fox News town hall in Fort Worth, Vice President JD Vance answered Rebekah Smith, a Texas mother who said her 11-year-old received a mailing about transitioning without her parents knowing. Vance denounced the sender and said federal prosecutors should investigate. The article reports the mailing was fake, the Transgender Education Network of Texas disavowed it, and court testimony connected accompanying texts to a Republican organization with national scope. In the Texas attorney general race between Ken Paxton and James Talarico, Vance also asserted that Talarico’s stance favored the sender over concerned parents; the article says Talarico had instead criticized rejecting a child’s stated gender, not required medical transition. The exchange matters because a local mailing controversy reached prime-time Fox News and a vice-presidential call for federal scrutiny during a statewide race.