Trump: No more 'Lyin' Ted' talk

Donald Trump is now embarked on a Republican unity project, starting with more positive descriptions of newly vanquished foe Ted Cruz.

In other words: No more "Lyin' Ted."

"Lyin' Ted is now — we will now put that aside," Trump told Fox & Friends on Wednesday, one of several television interviews he gave the morning after essentially clinching the Republican nomination by winning the Indiana primary and forcing Cruz from the race.

"He was a very tough competitor," Trump said of the Texas senator he has frequently denounced as the most dishonest person he has ever seen.

Whether Trump's unity appeal will be reciprocated by Cruz — or other Republicans who have attacked Trump — remains to be seen.

Cruz did not mention Trump during his concession speech, which came hours after he denounced the New York businessman as a "narcissist" and "pathological liar" whose attacks included a "kooky" conspiracy theory somehow linking Cruz's father to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

While Republican Party chairman Reince Priebus dubbed Trump the presumptive nominee, other GOP leaders have not sent out the traditional calls for unity that normally follow the effective end of a nomination battle.

One of Trump's most frequent critics — Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina — tweeted that "if we nominate Trump, we will get destroyed ... and we will deserve it."

Trump, appearing on MSNBC's Morning Joe, acknowledged there won't be total Republican unity, and said there are "some people that I almost don't want their endorsement — Republicans. I really don't, because it was too rough and they were too nasty.  And I don't think it's going to matter, frankly.  It's going to be me."

On NBC's Today show, Trump said: "People will be voting for me — they're not voting for the party."