Sen. Rand Paul said Wednesday he’s still in intense pain after a run-in with his Kentucky neighbor in November that resulted in him having six broken ribs and bruised lungs.
“I still have pain every day, all day,” the Kentucky Republican told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer. “But I don’t have — I had the pain of 1,000 knives for about six weeks. I could barely move and barely breathe. I couldn’t sleep. And so I am better than I was, but I won’t say I’m back to normal yet. But I am getting better.”
Rene Albert Boucher, an anesthesiologist and former colleague of Paul’s who has lived next door to the Republican senator for 17 years, allegedly blindsided Paul in November by tackling him and throwing him to the ground.
Boucher has pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor assault.
In an interview with CNN, Boucher’s attorney, Matthew Baker, said his client regrets the incident.
“If he had to do it over again, I can assure you it would have been handled much more diplomatically,” Baker said in November.
Baker insisted the incident was not politically motivated.
“This has absolutely nothing to do with any politics, any liberal vs. conservative or Republican versus Democrat,” he said. “It’s just not about that.”
Paul said Wednesday he believes his neighbor deserves “punishment” for what he did to him.
“If someone is it raped, pillaged, mugged, it should be about punishment,” Paul said about the incident. “And the person that did this needs to be punished. Whether or not they thought they were justified in their mind, there is no justification for attacking someone from behind, breaking ribs and causing me life-threatening injuries.”