Gyurcsány's speech has immediately sparked outrage. All opposition parties are demanding the prime minister's resignation. The most vocal is the largest of them, Fidesz, and its leader, ex-prime minister Viktor Orbán. Gyurcsány however told journalists that he didn't think about resignation at all, even though he still stands by everything he said in the leaked speech.

On the evening of September 17, a crowd started gathering in central Budapest, in front of the Parliament building. This demonstration remained peaceful, but it's already clear that the people who took to the streets were supporters of various extreme right-wing groups. A smaller group tried to have a meeting with president László Sólyom and an even smaller one tried to reach Fernec Gyurcsány's private home. Both were turned back by the police.

The unofficial slogan for the anti-government demonstrations is "elkúrtad", which literally means "you fucked up". This is a reference to Gyurcsány's speech in which he used the same Hungarian word to describe what his government had done in the past couple of years.