Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed (D) said on Sunday’s Meet the Press that Mitt Romney’s comments about the 47 percent of Americans who pay no income tax show once again that the candidate is “defective,” comparing Romney to a race car driver who is constantly grinding along the track’s wall.

During the panel discussion, top Romney advisor Bay Buchanan said the remarks, which were secretly videotaped earlier this year and released last week by Mother Jones, were being mischaracterized. Not so, Reed said. Instead, he argued that the statement clearly showed Romney dissing half of the nation.

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“I don’t even think that this is a question of mischaracterization,” he said. “All you have to do is listen to the whole piece. His comments were terrible. What he implied were that there 47 percent of the people are basically freeloaders.”

Reed then added that actions like that were not aberrations, but were rather the hallmark of the entire Romney campaign.

“The best analysis of this election this year that I’ve heard was from a Republican friend that I was having dinner with,” Reed said. “He said that this guy is defective. He said he’s like being a bad NASCAR driver on a rich team. He said no matter how good the car is, no matter how bad the pit crew is, the driver has got to drive the car. And this guy puts it on the wall every single time.”

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