Sen. Cory Booker may have done more than give Democrats the moment they’ve been starving for against President Donald Trump and his Republican congressional majorities.

He might have also jumped the line in a too-soon-to-contemplate 2028 presidential candidate list.

“Folks see in him what they want to see in a leader of the free world,” Christale Spain, chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party, told USA TODAY.

Spain said her social media timeline was flooded with voters showcasing their selfies with Booker when he visited the state, back in 2019. She said the speech has many thinking about him as a future White House contender.

In a record-breaking 25-hour, 5-minute speech on the Senate floor, the New Jersey Democrat railed against the direction Trump’s policies are taking the country, serving as a rallying point needed to galvanize a party in a leadership crisis.

Booker’s speech raked in more than 350 million “likes” on his TikTok account; it was watched by more than 100,000 people on YouTube; and his office reportedly received up to 28,000 voicemails. It even received a shout-out from Jon Bon Jovi, a Garden State native, and inserted the 55-year-old lawmaker’s name into the discussion of potential 2028 presidential candidates.

“After getting some rest, I am in awe of everyone who continues to lift their voice and speak out,” Booker said in an April 2 post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“This is a moment for our country, and we must make a choice about the America we want to be.”

Pollster Frank Luntz said that unlike previous attempts at yanking the national microphone out of Trump’s hands, Booker’s remarks grabbed the country’s attention and “struck the kind of tone” grassroots progressives want.

“After his 25-hour speech, Cory Booker is now the Democratic frontrunner for 2028… Sen. Booker rose to the occasion,” Luntz said in an April 2 post on X.

Washington Post columnist Perry Bacon was among a contingent suggesting Democrats should focus more on the present than a White House campaign three years from now.

Democratic voters, he wrote, “will almost certainly be more excited about backing candidates who strongly opposed Trump” versus those who treated his returning administration as “fine and normal.”

“Perhaps Booker only stood on the Senate floor for more than 25 hours because he is also planning to run in 2028,” Bacon said. “Fine by me.”

‘Fake filibuster’: GOP naysayers aren’t impressed

Part of the hoopla around Booker’s speech is the low morale his party is experiencing nationally amid Trump’s dominance.

In March, a series of polls showed Democrats sinking in popularity.

Among them was a CNN poll that found just under two-thirds of Democratic and Democratic-leaning independent voters had a favorable view of the party.

Booker’s effort galvanized big-name Democrats who’d been at odds, such as former Vice President Kamala Harris and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who both praised Booker’s moxy.

“It was a master class in commanding the stage, in guiding attention to the issues that matter most,” Ben Wickler, chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, told USA TODAY when asked about the speech’s impact during a Wednesday press conference.

“And I think Democrats are following his example and fighting back at every level.”

Booker’s marathon speech didn’t block any specific legislation, however. It delayed Trump’s pick to be the U.S. ambassador to NATO, but that appointment was quickly pushed through after the Democratic senator was finished speaking.

“Only in Washington can you become a media hero by talking (to) an empty room for 25 hours straight with no actual function or purpose,” Republican strategist Matt Whitlock said on X, dissing the speech as a “fake filibuster.”

Other commentators called it “performance art,” and it should be noted that Booker fizzled out as a presidential contender in 2020 after trying to create similar moments, citing a lack of fundraising for ending his bid.

But Luntz said during a Tuesday evening appearance on NewsNation in the aftermath of Booker’s marathon speech that Democratic and independent voters have repeatedly said they are yearning for a fighter who wants better for the country.

“Not only is it a different Cory Booker, it’s a different United State of America (and) it’s a different Democratic Party,” he said. “We’re not the same as we were back then.”