The sentencing of former United States President Donald Trump in a criminal hush-money case has been delayed until after the November presidential election.

New York Judge Juan Merchan announced on Friday that he would move the sentencing date, previously scheduled for September 18, to November 26.

This is the second delay in the sentencing hearing, which was originally set for July 11. Merchan explained the new date was chosen to reflect Trump’s candidacy in the upcoming election.

“The imposition of sentence will be adjourned to avoid any appearance — however unwarranted — that the proceeding has been affected by or seeks to affect the approaching Presidential election in which the Defendant is a candidate,” Merchan wrote in his decision.

“The Court is a fair, impartial and apolitical institution.”

While Merchan sought to avoid the appearance of political bias, some critics have argued that such thinking offers Trump special treatment based on his status in national politics.

Trump, meanwhile, has argued the mere fact of the case is prejudicial to his re-election bid this November.

On his Truth Social platform on Friday, he wrote, “This case should be rightfully terminated, as we prepare for the Most Important Election in the History of our Country.”

The new sentencing date is set for exactly three weeks after the November 5 election.

In late May, Trump became the first president in US history to be tried and convicted on criminal charges.

A jury in the New York case found him guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records, after prosecutors argued he attempted to conceal hush-money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election season.

The state-level New York case is one of four criminal indictments Trump faces. The former president has decried his legal woes as political persecution from his perceived rivals.

Trump is currently running as the Republican nominee in a third successive presidential race.

Two of the criminal indictments he faces — one in Georgia and the other in Washington, DC — relate to alleged efforts to overturn the results of the last presidential race in 2020, which Trump lost to President Joe Biden.

The New York case is the only one of the four indictments to reach trial before this November’s election.

May’s verdict is sure to be appealed by Trump’s legal team. In a statement on Friday, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung called for the case to be thrown out entirely, saying there should be “no sentencing in the Manhattan DA’s Election Interference Witch Hunt”.

Trump echoed those remarks afterwards on Truth Social, falsely blaming the case’s existence on his Democratic rival in the presidential race, Kamala Harris. He also maintained his innocence.

“The Manhattan D.A. Witch Hunt has been postponed because everyone realizes that there was NO CASE, I DID NOTHING WRONG!” Trump wrote. “It is a political attack against me by Comrade Kamala Harris.”

Merchan’s decision follows a highly controversial Supreme Court ruling earlier this year, in which the conservative-majority court ruled that US presidents cannot be criminally prosecuted for “official” acts committed while in office.

Critics say the ruling grants the already powerful executive branch broad immunity from prosecution, arguably increasing its authority beyond what is established in the US Constitution.