Tuesday nights presidential debate was a study in contrasts. Unlike their CNN counterparts in June, ABC News moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis came prepared to push back on former President Donald Trumps lies.

On five occasions, they fact-checked Trump in real time, according to a HuffPost analysis of the debate transcript . It began when Davis challenged Trump after he repeated his lie that Democrats support abortion in the ninth month and execution after birth.

Davis stepped in. There is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after its born, she said.

At first, it seemed like a welcome shift from prior debates, when moderators would often let Trump ramble on and on, spewing lie after lie.

But theres only so much someone can do to stop him. As weve often witnessed since 2015, moderating a debate or conducting a live TV interview with Trump is regularly a no-win situation. It often ends up resulting in more free airtime for Trump. For every fact-check in the moment, there are plenty more of Trumps spurious claims that go unchallenged. Plus, the former presidents penchant for distraction, deflection and obfuscation often derails any attempts by the interviewer to keep the discussion on track. Trying to pull out every rotting piece of lettuce from Trumps word salad and parse each one is a fools errand. It would take hours days, even.