CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig said Friday that Judge Juan Merchan is unlikely to ever sentence President-elect Donald Trump, despite his conviction in New York, an opinion that isn’t going to sit well with Democrats.

On Friday, Merchan issued an order indefinitely postponing Trump’s sentencing, originally scheduled for Tuesday. The judge granted the defense until December 2 to file a motion to dismiss the case and instructed prosecutors to respond by December 9. Speaking on CNN News Central, Honig predicted that the sentencing would never occur, suggesting that the case would eventually “disappear.”

“It means that the sentencing is on hold indefinitely and quite possibly for more than that, probably never to actually happen, because what they have to do before that is litigate the whole issue of, is Donald Trump immune? Can a state-level prosecution proceed against him while he’s president-elect and then president?” Honig said.

“I’m gonna spoil the bottom line here: He’s not going to get sentenced on this case. He’s not going to get sentenced before he becomes president. He’s not going to get sentenced while he’s president,” Honig continued.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg suggested in a Tuesday filing to delay the remaining proceedings of the case until Trump’s term concludes in 2029. But Honig and other legal experts don’t believe that is a realistic expectation.

“And [Bragg] earlier this week actually floated the possibility — they said, ‘We may want to hold open the option of sentencing him after he’s done his second term,’ meaning in 2029. That is not going to happen,” he said.

“That is a ridiculous request legally and practically. So essentially, we’re playing out the string here. I think, eventually, this case will go away. It’s just a question of what the niceties will be down the stretch,” Honig predicted.