"Sacrifice with hunger, sacrifice your dinner, otherwise there will be no more Egypt. Those are your two options."
These are the words of Mahmoud Mansour, a major general in the Egyptian security services.
In a video that is currently going viral, Mansour is seen speaking at a press conference that took place in an unidentified location on Saturday. In it, he lashes out at Egyptians, berating citizens for complaining about the escalating economic crisis currently affecting the country.
Mansour directed his words at millions of Egyptians, saying:
"You have 5KG oil in your cupboard or in your storage, do they have to be 10KG? That's just rude, it's just rude! You can't say it's anything else..."
The crisis has been worsening in the past few months as the country's inflation rates hit their highest record in a decade.
Millions of Egyptians are struggling with the reduction of government subsidies amidst the ongoing crisis and some recently took to the streets to protest the latest reduction in >bread subsidies.
As soon as the video of Mansour began circulating on social media platforms, it sparked outrage among Egyptian Facebook and Twitter users.
Here are a few of their reactions:
Some were speechless
Others turned to humor
"OK, Sir."
"This man is living in a pantry"
"Thank God for the fact that we're already hungry"
Many were outraged
"Go hungry to keep the thieves satisfied"
"I hope that people like you go hungry, so that you'll become our role models when it comes to that"
"You go hungry first, general"
"You are not even a human being"