A contest for the presidency between Sen. Bernie Sanders and former President Donald Trump seems highly improbable.

Trump will be running, of course, and unless he’s prevented by his health or a critical mass of indictments he will likely win his party’s nomination.

But Sanders? While progressivism has progressed among Democrats, the party is unlikely to stake the nomination on an 82-year old senator.

I’ve seen several instances of this lately, from conservative friends and, more prominently, from former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

Christie was one of Trump’s earliest supporters, but now, considering his own presidential run in 2024, Christie rejects Trump’s patently bogus claims about the 2020 election.

In fact, Christie is one of those few Republicans who have been willing to push back against Trump, but not too hard, for fear of alienating the significant segment of Americans who are still deeply committed to Trump.

And when pressed by George Stephanopoulos on April 11, Christie could not bring himself to say that he won’t vote for Trump in 2024. What if the Democrats run Bernie Sanders?

If he’s forced to vote for Trump, Christie implies, the Democrats are to blame for giving him such an undesirable alternative.