Clinton did not explicitly address this possibility last night. But she tied the Court’s ideological makeup to her broader vision of the country’s future. “What kind of opportunities will we provide for our citizens? What kind of rights will Americans have?” she said during the opening segment. “I feel strongly that the Supreme Court needs to stand on the side of the American people, not on the side of the powerful corporations and the wealthy.”

“I have major disagreements with my opponent about these issues and others that will be before the Supreme Court,” she added, outlining a largely generic liberal stance. “But I feel that at this point in our country's history, it is important that we not reverse marriage equality, that we not reverse Roe v. Wade, that we stand up against Citizens United, we stand up for the rights of people in the workplace, that we stand up and basically say: The Supreme Court should represent all of us.”

When Wallace turned to Trump, the businessman gave rambling, superficial answers on what should be any Republican candidate’s safest ground. Instead of laying out his vision for the Court, it seemed like Trump tried to say what he thought his conservative supporters would want to hear. His first instinct when asked about the Court’s role in America was to denounce Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a liberal icon who had sharply criticized him in July.

“Something happened recently where Justice Ginsburg made some very, very inappropriate statements toward me and toward a tremendous number of people, many, many millions of people that I represent,” he said. “And she was forced to apologize, and apologize she did. But these were statements that should never, ever have been made.” (While Ginsburg did criticize Trump, she made no comments about his supporters.)

Only then did Trump pivot to gun rights, where he attempted to throw some red meat to his base. “We need a Supreme Court that in my opinion is going to uphold the Second Amendment, and all amendments, but the Second Amendment, which is under absolute siege,” he explained. “I believe if my opponent should win this race, which I truly don't think will happen, we will have a Second Amendment which will be a very, very small replica of what it is right now. But I feel that it's absolutely important that we uphold, because of the fact that it is under such trauma.”

Vague incoherence is unusual for Republican candidates on constitutional issues. Movement conservatives like Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio can warn about liberals appointing activist judges and pledge adherence to the Founders’ original vision for the Constitution with casual ease. But Trump is not from that world. He instead speaks of conservative legal thought like a foreign-exchange student. Most of the correct nouns and verbs are there, but fluency eludes him.