Judge Richard Posner Youtube A judge tapped by conservative icon Ronald Reagan says the Republican party has deteriorated significantly in the past decade.

Judge Richard Posner expressed his exasperation with Republicans in an interview with NPR on Thursday, even though he said he still admired Reagan and conservative hero Milton Friedman.

"I've become less conservative since the Republican party started becoming goofy," said Posner, who sits on the federal appeals court in Chicago and has written three dozen books.

In particular, Posner took issue with conservatives' attacks on Chief Justice John Roberts' Obamacare decision. The prominent judge also implied that Roberts' former friends may have leaked his rumored last-minute change-of-heart about Obamacare to news reporters.

"I think these right-wingers who are blasting Roberts are making a very serious mistake," Posner told NPR.

"I mean, what would you do if you were Roberts?" he added. "All the sudden you find out people you thought were your friends have turned against you. They despise you. They mistreat you. They leak to the press."