Rand Paul says he had to have part of his lung removed from when his neighbor assaulted him in 2017

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said Monday that doctors recently needed to remove part of one of his lungs due to damage caused by an assault he suffered last year.

What assault?

On Nov. 3, 2017, Rene Boucher attacked Paul while the senator was mowing his lawn. The altercation allegedly was over a property dispute involving Paul stacking debris on his own side of their property line. Paul suffered six broken ribs from this attack, and came down with pneumonia as a result.

In January, Paul was awarded a $600,000 settlement against Boucher by a Kentucky jury for punitive damages, pain and suffering, and medical expenses. Paul said that the lawsuit was intended to send a message that this type of behavior was unacceptable.

What did he say now?

In a tweet on Monday morning, Paul said:

Unfortunately, I will have to limit my August activities. Part of my lung damaged by the 2017 assault had to be removed by surgery this weekend. The doctors, nurses, & staff at Vanderbilt University Medical Center were great. I should be able to return to the Senate in September

What else?

On July 24, Paul suggested that he would buy a plane ticket for Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) to return to Somalia so she could "maybe learn a little bit about the disaster that is Somalia, that has no capitalism, has no God-given rights guaranteed in a constitution and has about seven different tribes that have been fighting each other for the last 40 years." He said he thought this might make her "appreciate America more."

Omar responded by retweeting comedian Tom Arnold who had replied to a video of Paul's interview by saying, "Imagine being Rand Paul's next door neighbor and having to deal with @RandPaul lying cowardly circular whiney bullcrap about lawn clippings. No wonder he ripped his toupee off."