It is “a victory” for Republican candidate Donald Trump, according to the Wall Street Journal. As he seeks to overturn his conviction in the Stormy Daniels case and reclaim the White House, his sentencing in New York was postponed on Friday, September 6, until after the presidential election. Judge Juan Merchan, who was initially scheduled to announce the Republican candidate’s sentence on September 18, will finally do so on November 26. The former president welcomed the postponement, saying that the case “should be closed.” “I did nothing wrong!” the man said.
The judge, eager to avoid a whirlwind of partisan second-guessing, stressed that the court is a “fair, impartial and apolitical institution.” It’s unclear whether Trump’s conviction in September would have helped or hurt him politically; his punishment could have been an embarrassing reminder of his criminal record, but could also have boosted his claims of political martyrdom. With the postponement, “Trump’s criminal conviction will not return to the forefront of the presidential campaign,” he said. CNN.
The former real estate mogul was found guilty in May 2024 of “34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal a hush-money payment to an adult film star alleging an affair with the former president,” the American media outlet recalls. The former president could face up to four years in prison, but Judge Merchan is not required to sentence Donald Trump to prison, and could choose to impose a lesser sentence, such as probation, home detention, community service or a fine.
Voters in the dark
More broadly, “voters will go to the polls without any of the four criminal cases against him having been resolved,” he notes. Politicotaken over by International Mail. Moreover, the political site estimates that the Stormy Daniels case “will probably be abandoned for years” if he wins the presidential election. And the New York Times adds: “Judge Juan Merchan’s decision means that voters will not know whether the former president will face a prison sentence.” For the American daily, it is also a risk of seeing “fueling accusations that Trump is above the law, unlike any other criminal.”
“There was no good legal reason to delay Trump’s sentencing, but I don’t blame the judge for his decision,” wrote one of the reporters PoliticoHe recalls that Judge Merchan has shown his willingness to move this case forward over the years despite the “dozens of death threats” against him and his family.
“The right decision from the anti-Trump judge”
But the political outlet believes that the Manhattan district attorney’s office is largely responsible for this outcome. “Prosecutors told Merchan several weeks ago that they did not oppose Trump’s request to delay sentencing until after the November election. That was a strong signal to the judge, because prosecutors have the primary responsibility to ensure that defendants are sentenced promptly,” it continues Politico.
Karl Rove, former adviser to President George Bush, applauded the “wise” decision to delay Trump’s sentencing in New York: “Good for the country.” On the channel Fox Newswho claims to be a militant conservatist, applauds the “good decision of the anti-Trump judge.” For the author of the very biased article, a postponement of the September 26 sentencing should have been “obvious.” And he is confident about the future of the Republican candidate: “I don’t know if Trump will win the election, but I seriously doubt that he will have to cancel his Thanksgiving plans because of a November 26 conviction.”