CAIRO — “Here comes the fool.” This colloquial Egyptian saying echoed across Cairo’s Tahrir Square as soon as President Mohammed Morsi appeared on the big screen erected by opposition movements to follow his much anticipated speech. Hundreds of protesters held shoes in the air in a scene reminiscent of the 18-day uprising in January 2011 that ousted the three-decade rule of President Hosni Mubarak.

Despite having little hope for reform or having their demand for early elections fulfilled, a few thousand protesters gathered in the square on the night of June 26 carrying red cards and banners emblazoned with slogans demanding the president’s exit and eagerly awaiting what turned out to be a two-and-a-half-hour sermon composed primarily of attacks on the media, opposition, judiciary, former presidential candidates and alleged conspirators.

For a few hours before the speech, scheduled to begin at 9:30 PM, minor skirmishes erupted between Egyptians demanding a military intervention to take control of government and others who resurrected the mantra of the military-led transitional period, “Down with military rule.”

In a teasing kickoff to his speech, Morsi began, “I stand in front of you as the Egyptian citizen, Mohammed Morsi, before being the president responsible for the destiny of the nation and the future of the people, fearing for my country, for the precious Egypt that if harmed, may Allah forbid, will impact not only the Arab and Islamic world, but the entire world.” His words were met by a Tahrir Square message sent to Mubarak and the interim Supreme Council of the Armed Forces: “Leave. Leave.”