Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.) announced via Twitter that he underwent further hospitalization due to injuries sustained in a 2017 attack, a week after a fellow member of Congress mocked that attack.
Paul was tackled from behind by a neighbor in November 2017, supposedly over a mundane dispute over lawn clippings. The senator broke six ribs and suffered damage to his lung that required an extended hospital stay and a suspension of his congressional duties. Paul's attacker later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 30 days in prison.
In a Monday morning tweet, Paul announced that he had surgery over the weekend to remove part of the damaged lung and would be taking another leave of absence. "I should be able to return to the Senate in September," he wrote.
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
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) August 5, 2019
Paul's return to the hospital comes a week after a dust-up with Rep. Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.) that started with the senator offering to pay to send Omar to her native Somalia, and ended with the freshman congressman sharing a tweet from former actor Tom Arnold mocking the assault and saying it was "no wonder" the attack happened.
Despite the inflammatory nature of the tweet and her previous accusation that Republican critics were guilty of "dangerous incitement," Omar's retweet remains up and received little to no media coverage outside of conservative and libertarian media.