Returning to Hudson County on Friday, the place where he first launched his political career, Menendez was greeted with cheers and applause at the North Hudson Community Action Corporation.

He smiled as he hugged and shook the hands of those gathered in the crowded lobby.

The U.S. Department of Justice had charged Menendez with doing official favors for his friend and co-defendant Salomon Melgen, a Florida eye doctor, in exchange for expensive hotel stays, private jet flights and hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions.

While Menendez walked out of the courthouse a free man, the cloud of the corruption trial still hangs over him. Federal prosecutors have not yet said if they will re-try the case but the Senate Ethics Committee plans to resume its own investigation of Menendez.

On Thursday, Menendez said the trial had taught him about the weight and power of the federal government.

“I understand now better why many Americans feel that justice is elusive,” he told reporters on Friday when asked to elaborate on those comments. “But for supporters from across the country and New Jersey … I could never have afforded the opportunity to defend myself and the millions that it has cost. That being said, it’s the system of justice not that I thought it was. It’s the system of justice you can afford.”

Fellow Hudson County Democrats Rep. Albio Sires, Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto and state Sen. Nick Sacco lauded Menendez as a “true champion” of the residents of New Jersey.

Joan Quigley, president of the health center, called Menendez a “good friend.”

Throughout the 2 1/2-month long trial, Menendez’s defense team did not dispute that the senator did favors for Melgen, but argued they were borne out of a 20-year friendship rather than an act of bribery.

“He understands the meaning of friendship. Friends help friends,” Quigley said of Menendez. “And he has always been a friend to those of us he knows well and to some people he hasn’t even met you.”

The purpose of Friday’s event was to encourage people to enroll in Obamacare health insurance plans, given the fast approaching Dec. 15 deadline.

Standing in the lobby of the health center beneath the block letters emblazoned on the wall declaring it the Menendez pavilion, the senator decried the “sabotage” of the Affordable Care Act by President Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans.

“President Trump is rooting for higher uninsured rates, higher premiums, higher deductibles in order to say that the Affordable Care Act failed,” Menendez said. “It’s the most cynical approach to government that I have ever heard of.”

He also took shots at the GOP tax reform plan. The Senate version includes a provision that would eliminate the Obamacare individual mandate, which requires all Americans to purchase insurance or pay a penalty to the Internal Revenue Service.

“It is really cynical to include in a tax bill, a provision that ultimately undermines health care for all Americans, in order to give corporations permanent tax cuts,” Menendez said.

Menendez hasn’t officially said if he’ll seek re-election next year, but had a defiant message upon leaving the courthouse on Thursday.

“To those who were digging my political grave so they could jump into my seat, I know who you are and I won’t forget you,” he said.

On Friday, Menendez declined to elaborate on the message, saying “it speaks for itself. They know who they are and I know who they are.”

Asked if he plans to run again in 2018, he replied: “This would not be my idea of a campaign kickoff.”