During the presidential campaign, many critics of Barack Obama — in arguing that he wasn’t ready to take on the job of commander in chief — said his election would cause the terrorists to jump for joy.

Well, al-Qaeda’s No. 2 doesn’t seem to be a big fan of the president-elect.

In the terror ring’s latest recording sent to the world, Ayman al-Zawahri on Wednesday used a racial epithet to insult Obama, describing him – along with secretaries of state Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice – as “house negroes” doing the bidding of whites. Speaking in Arabic, al-Zawahri uses the term "abeed al-beit," which literally translates as "house slaves." But AP notes that al-Qaeda supplied English subtitles of his speech that included the translation as "house negroes."

Malcolm X, however, is a black man Zawahri admires. According to Zawahri, Obama is "the direct opposite of honorable black Americans" like the 1960s African American rights leader, Zawahri said. The message also includes old footage of speeches by Malcolm X, who used to use such terms to criticize black leaders he accused of not standing up to whites.

U.S. intelligence officials have not yet confirmed that the voice on the tape is that of the Egyptian doctor and right-hand man of Usama bin Laden. But there’s no reason to doubt it’s him, either. It’s believed that Zawahri exercises near-full operational control of al-Qaeda. It’s no surprise the terror network is sending a message now; intelligence experts and Obama fully expected some type of message following the November 4 election.

The audio recording, posted on militant websites, appeared to mainly be trying to persuade Muslims and Arabs that Obama does not represent a change in U.S. policies.

"America has put on a new face, but its heart full of hate, mind drowning in greed and spirit which spreads evil, murder, repression and despotism continue to be the same as always," Zawahri said.

He said Obama’s plan to shift troops from Iraq to Afghanistan is doomed to failure, because Afghans will resist.

"Be aware that the dogs of Afghanistan have found the flesh of your soldiers to be delicious, so send thousands after thousands to them," he said.

CNN says the message also made reference to Obama’s Muslim father and his Christian religion.

"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 … And so you promised to back Israel, and you threatened to strike the tribal regions in Pakistan, and to send thousands more troops to Afghanistan, in order for the crimes of the American crusade in it to continue."