Ignatius, speaking on "Morning Joe," said that while attending a security conference in Germany last week he heard many people indicating they were preparing for the possibility that Democrats won’t rally behind their eventual nominee to challenge Trump.

"Certainly I heard a lot last weekend in Munich, comments that suggested that people are getting ready for the possibility that the Democrats simply won’t be able to unify around a candidate that can beat Donald Trump and that they have, the world has to, get ready for the prospect of four more years," Ignatius said.

"You already begin to get a sense of that, to hear it in comments that people make, this sense of the United States moving away from its traditional positions, not likely to come back anytime soon. You see people hedging their bets," he added.

Ignatius joined the program to discuss a recent column of his that included reaction to Wednesday's Democratic presidential primary debate, which he called a "circular firing squad in Las Vegas" that mostly involved candidates attacking each other.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has emerged as the front-runner in the race for the Democratic nomination, prompting concerns among moderates who worry he would be unable to defeat Trump in a general election. That, in turn, has sparked worries about whether Democrats will be united heading into November, regardless of who the nominee is.