Sarah Palin echoes Romney: Tesla Motors 'losers' who build 'bricks'

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin attacked the start-up company Tesla Motors on Friday, describing the California-based car manufacturer as "losers."

Palin was commenting on Fisker Automotive in a Facebook post. The "green" automaker was launched after receiving a loan from the Department of Energy, but has since been plagued with problems and laid off 75 percent of its workforce on Friday.

"This losing tax-subsidized venture joins other past losers like the Obama-subsidized Volt that gets 40 miles per battery charge, or like the Obama-subsidized Tesla that turns into a 'brick' when the battery completely discharges and then costs $40,000 to repair," Palin wrote.

"This is really just the latest manifestation of the administration’s crony capitalism as their green energy buddies benefit from this atrocious waste of taxpayer money. Americans really need to get outraged by these wasteful ventures. As we’ve seen time and time again, We the People are always stuck subsidizing the left’s 'losers.'"

Like Fisker, Tesla Motors received a $465 million loan from the Department of Energy. The automaker plans to repay the loan five years early due to the expected success of its all-electric Model S Sedan. The car was unanimously voted Motor Trend's Car of the Year in 2012.

Former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney was the first major figure to describe Tesla Motors as "losers." Following the 2012 election, Tesla CEO and space entrepreneur Elon Musk commented that Romney got "the object, but not the subject" of his remark right.

Republicans have frequently attacked the Energy Department’s clean-energy loan program following the bankruptcy of Solyndra, a solar cell manufacture that received a $535 million loan from the agency. An independent review of the program by a former Bush Administration official found the risk to taxpayers was much less than planned for.