LAS VEGAS — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid branded Chinese President Hu Jintao a “dictator” on a local TV talk show on Tuesday night, a remark likely to make the start of Hu’s first state visit to Washington, D.C., awkward for President Obama at a moment when the U.S. is trying to ease tensions with the Asian power.

Reid, Obama’s top legislative ally and Congress’ most powerful Democrat, was responding to a question from “Face To Face” host Jon Ralston about the December compromise that extended the Bush-era tax cuts. The recently reelected Nevada senator veered off on a tangent intended to compare the American and Chinese systems of government to give a roundabout defense of the importance of legislative compromise.