Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) once threatened to challenge journalists to a “duel” after they reported that he had plagiarized speeches from Wikipedia and portions of his book “Government Bullies” from a conservative publication.

“I take it as an insult, and I will not lie down and say people can call me dishonest, misleading or misrepresenting. I have never intentionally done so,” Paul said on ABC News’ “This Week” in a 2013 interview.

“Like I say, if dueling were legal in Kentucky — if they keep it up — it’ll be a duel challenge,” he added.

One reporter who published a November 2013 article on Paul’s potential plagiarism highlighted the shift in the senator’s tone in a Wednesday post on X.

“I was once challenged by Sen. Paul 13 years ago to a duel,” CNN senior politics reporter Andrew Kaczynski, sharing a screenshot about NPR’s coverage of the controversy.

A Republican congressional aide told The Post that the resurfaced comments were proof of Paul’s “hypocrisy” and that the Senate Homeland Security Committee chairman had engaged in “antics” during a Wednesday confirmation hearing for Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) to lead the Department of Homeland Security.

Paul had accused Mullin of having “justified” his attempted brawl with Teamsters President Sean O’Brien — whom the Oklahoma Republican said is now a close friend — during another hearing in 2023.

During Wednesday’s hearing, the Senate Homeland panel chairman denounced Mullin for suggesting a return to the more-than-a-century-old norm where “two consenting adults” could resolve their differences by “dueling.”

“It’s been illegal for 170 years. There’s no precedent for legal dueling,” the Kentucky Republican said, noting how the near-death bludgeoning of abolitionist Sen. Charles Sumner “with a cane” in 1856 caused even the “men who beat” him to flee the country.

“That is a very, very dangerous sentiment,” he added.

Around the start of the 19th century, the Kentucky legislature mandated that incoming state elected officials swear an oath that they had never been in a duel, issued a challenge for one or assisted another man in such a standoff — since so many had killed each other in the past, The New York Times reported.

Congress eventually passed a law prohibiting dueling in the District of Columbia in 1839.

Mullin in the hearing had claimed, “What I was simply pointing out is some of the rules that still apply to this body.”

“The guy literally tasked with overseeing 250,000 law enforcement officers somehow missed the memo that it’s been illegal for nearly two centuries,” another GOP source quipped of the exchange.

Mullin also faced questions regarding a previously undisclosed trip abroad in 2016, which the chairman and Sen. Gary Peters (R-Ky.), the top Democrat on the committee, agreed to resolve hours later in a classified setting.

But Paul, who had already told reporters he was a firm “no” on Mullin for a vote to advance him out of committee on Thursday, never showed up.

A spokesperson for the senator’s office noted that the chairman “wanted to ensure all committee members have the information they need to make their own decisions.”