Trump tells mainstream GOP to embrace his bid

FORT MYERS, Fla. – His party in chaos, a surging Donald Trump called on mainstream Republicans to unify behind his candidacy Wednesday as his White House rivals seized on their last, best opportunity to block the billionaire businessman from building an insurmountable delegate lead in two key states.

The often-brash Trump softened his tone hours after securing another three primary victories, praising House Speaker Paul Ryan as a man he respects and encouraging Mitt Romney to promote party unity. The comments marked a sharp reversal in tone, if not substance, from a week earlier.

“Instead of fighting it, they should embrace it,” Trump said of his candidacy in a Wednesday interview with Fox News Channel.

He later said he’s going for a knockout in next week’s winner-take-all contests in Florida and Ohio: “I think if I win those two, I think it’s over,” he told CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360.”

Amid the growing resistance to Trump’s insurgent campaign, a number of former GOP presidential hopefuls have re-emerged in support of his current rivals.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush planned to confer with all the candidates – save Trump – ahead of Thursday’s GOP debate. He’ll meet with Florida Sen. Marco Rubio on Wednesday, and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich on Thursday, said Kristy Campbell, Bush’s former campaign spokeswoman.

Cruz intensified his own bid to blunt Trump’s momentum, unveiling Wednesday an endorsement from a former rival, retired business executive Carly Fiorina, who offers Cruz an immediate dose of credibility with his party’s skeptical donor class.

Acknowledging many mainstream Republicans fear Cruz is too conservative, Fiorina told a Miami crowd that she’s “horrified” by Trump.

“The truth is that Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are two sides of the same coin,” she charged. “It is time now to unite behind the one man who can beat Donald Trump, who can beat Hillary Clinton.”