George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley suggested on Friday that Judge Juan Merchan’s decision to delay former President Donald Trump’s sentencing might be an attempt to avoid inadvertently boosting Trump’s campaign.

Merchan had originally set Trump’s sentencing for September 18, but he postponed it to November 26 “if necessary,” according to his order.

Turley, speaking on “America Reports,” argued that Merchan’s rulings during the case, which appeared to benefit the prosecution, could have bolstered Trump’s reelection bid. He suggested that sticking to the original September date might have further intensified support for the former president.

“Any sentencing that Merchan would have come down with, I think, would have not been particularly welcome by most of the public. It would have reminded them of this campaign against the former president,” Turley said. “So in some ways I think the Harris campaign is probably celebrating that they won’t have that attention on the Manhattan case.”

Merchan noted in his order that he was postponing the sentencing “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.”

During Trump’s business records trial, Judge Merchan’s rulings appeared to favor Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and hinder the former president’s defense, as he granted many of the prosecution’s requests while denying those of the defense.

“I was not one of those that was piling on Merchan, but I have to say, after sitting in his courtroom, I was very surprised in what I thought was a one-sided approach to that trial … There was, in my view, a lack of balance there. We have not heard this type of language from Merchan,” the law professor continued. “He refused to do things during the trial that could have accommodated the environment in which the trial was occurring, including a gag order that I think was excessive. And the irony, of course, was that the former president’s polls went up when he was gagged, partially, I think, because people saw the unfairness, partially because he sort of stayed on script. That may have weighed in all of this. Merchan actually witnessed how his conduct at the trial, the trial itself, worked in Trump’s favor. That would have been nothing in comparison to what would have happened if he sentenced Trump to home confinement or to jail. I think Merchan was aware of that.”