LIBERTY, Missouri - Mitt Romney characterized GOP rival Rick Santorum's campaign as being "desperate," during an interview Tuesday afternoon, just hours before the polls in the hotly contested states of Alabama and Mississippi are set to close.

Romney's remarks came during an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, who asked the candidate about recent attack ads launched against him by the Santorum campaign.

Romney noted that the ads have been deemed "baseless and wrong" by fact checking sources before elevating his rhetoric.

"Sen. Santorum is at the desperate end of his campaign and is trying to boost his prospects," said Romney.

Santorum has released television ads over the past few weeks that attempt to align Romney with the Wall Street bailouts. On the stump, Santorum has also honed in on Romney's record in the private sector, saying that the country needs a commander-in-chief and not a manager in the White House.

On Monday, Santorum told ABC's Jonathan Karl that Romney efforts to drive him from the race were themselves "desperate."

"This is the imaginary world of Mitt Romney's ideology. It's just sad," Santorum told Karl.