It all started innocently enough. Muir and Davis, tasked with moderating the debate between Trump and Harris, decided that this time, they’d do something a little different. Instead of nodding politely while the candidates spewed half-truths, outright lies, and questionable anecdotes about Springfield, Ohio’s pet situation, the moderators took it upon themselves to fact-check the candidates—in real-time.

Bold move, right? Apparently too bold.

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.