SOUTHERN ARIZONA (SGT NEWS) - Mike Huckabee’s southern charm quickly turned to fighting words on Saturday when he told a group of supporters that Mitt Romney needs to quit the race and step aside.

“John McCain hasn't suggested I step aside. So if Mitt Romney's going to engage me, which he has, then I feel like the engagement is on,” he said.

“If I'm ahead of him in places like Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee,” Huckabee said, “then he needs to step aside and let me in fact be that conservative alternative than he says we need.”

The former Arkansas governor set his sights on Romney early in the debating season, fiercely attacking his record as governor and waffling back and forth on the issues.

During the speech to supporters, Huckabee rejected the idea that John McCain will be the GOP’s presidential nominee. Coincidently, McCain said on Friday that he is confident that Super Tuesday will end the nomination process, leaving the Arizona Senator as the only candidate in the position to win.