Oklahoma conservative Senator Jim Inhofe said Sunday that he opposes the appointment of his former Republican colleague Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense precisely because Hagel is a Republican.

Sunday in an interview with WABC's Aaron Klein, Inhofe explained why he opposes President Obama's nomination of his former colleague Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense.

"I like Chuck Hagel. He was a war hero and he made his sacrifices more than I did in the service," Inhofe said. "But philosophically he is right along with Obama and I can see Obama saying, 'Well here is a conservative Republican former senator who agrees with me on all this so this is bipartisan.' Well I don't want that label of bipartisanship to follow on all of his policy toward North Korea, Syria, Iran, and even Egypt. So I am very much concerned about giving him that added impetus to do the things that I think are destroying America."

Inhofe added that he believes that Obama's first term vindicated his intense opposition.

"You know, four years ago I think I was the only one yelling and screaming and was upset because the first trip that our president, newly elected president four years ago, Obama, did was to go to Egypt and make all of the entrees onto the terrorists. And I just don't understand how it can get worse than that but I think it will get worse," Inhofe said.