Former Bush senior adviser Karl Rove is settling plenty of scores in his new book, Courage and Consequences—and former Secretary of State Colin Powell is one of his targets. ABC News reports that Rove used his brute upper body power to get back at the general in 2004—by way of doing twenty push-ups.
According to Rove, Powell didn't like him very much and how he was so involved in policy:
"I could tell when Powell was annoyed at me, because he would address me as 'Private Rove' and order me to drop and give him twenty push-ups... I usually laughed off Powell's occasional sarcastic greeting, but on May 27, 2004, with Powell irritated at me over something now long forgotten, I followed orders.
I dropped and gave him twenty push-ups. Right at the entrance of the Oval Office. I could tell it had unsettled him as he nervously encouraged me to stop and get up. But I finished, then jumped to attention and saluted. Powell was rattled. He had an awkward smile. Mine was real. It was the last time Powell ever asked me to drop and give him twenty."
Rove also denies being former president Bush's brain: "I’ve known him for almost four decades. He is a really smart person. To suggest that I was his brain is derogatory about him."