Ayman al-Zawahiri, the al-Qaeda deputy, stated:
"You were born to a Muslim father, but you chose to stand in the ranks of the enemies of the Muslims, and pray the prayer of the Jews, although you claim to be Christian, in order to climb the rungs of leadership in America."
The Elect was not an "honourable black American" like Malcolm X, he said, but an "abeed al-beit," a house slave or a "house negro" in the message's English subtitles.