Former GOP Sen. Hagel bashes Republicans

Former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) ripped into his fellow Republicans for their behavior on the debt-ceiling debate.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Hagel called his party "irresponsible" and said he was "disgusted" by their behavior.

"The irresponsible actions of my party, the Republican Party over this were astounding. I’d never seen anything like this in my lifetime," said Hagel. "I was very disappointed, I was very disgusted in how this played out in Washington, this debt ceiling debate. It was an astounding lack of responsible leadership by many in the Republican Party, and I say that as a Republican."

The former senator has long been known for criticizing his own party: He was one of the only Republicans to turn against the Iraq War during President George W. Bush's administration and voted against reauthorizing the Patriot Act in 2005.

Hagel blamed the recent stock market nose dive on the debt ceiling debate and said that President Obama could have avoided the issue if he had embraced the bipartisan deficit reduction plan put forth by former Sen. Alan Simpson (R-Wyo.) and former Clinton White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles.

But he laid most of the blame at the feet of his own party, which he said was unduly influenced by the Tea Party and other ideologically rigid movements.

"I think the Republican Party is captive to political movements that are very ideological, that are very narrow. I’ve never seen so much intolerance as I see today in American politics," he said.