Throughout the 90-minute spectacle, Trump, as expected, hit the stage with his usual flair for storytelling. Whether he was waxing poetic about Democrats “executing babies after birth” or describing how migrants were allegedly turning America’s pets into a buffet, Trump’s performance was, shall we say, creatively untethered to reality.

Muir, in a moment that will surely go down in fact-checking history, stopped the debate dead in its tracks to inform viewers that no, there was no state in the U.S. where post-birth baby executions are legal. And no, Springfield’s immigrant community is not engaged in a clandestine culinary war on household pets. To the reasonable viewer, these clarifications might seem helpful—necessary, even.

But according to ABC News executives, this “helpful” behavior is precisely what led to Muir and Davis’s unceremonious exit.

In a scathing memo that was somehow both formal and dripping with disdain, ABC explained its decision to terminate Muir and Davis: “Moderators are meant to guide the debate, not embarrass candidates by calling out falsehoods. The American public deserves to hear both sides—truth and fiction—without interference. David Muir and Linsey Davis crossed a line when they decided to turn their role as moderators into that of participant, and that is simply unacceptable.”

The memo continued: “Fact-checking in real-time creates an unfair advantage for the truth, and that is not what we stand for at ABC.”

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