"The View" co-host Whoopi Goldberg said Wednesday that Republicans must "trust" unsubstantiated reports from BuzzFeed and CNN released on Tuesday regarding President-elect Donald Trump and his alleged ties to Russia.
"What's interesting, though, you mention that Kellyanne Conway said this is just junk on the internet, and I think that BuzzFeed, who actually released this collection of memos, has come under a lot of heat," co-host Sunny Hostin said. "They are saying that that is not what a journalist does. That's not what journalism is, but isn't that what we need now?"
Goldberg then insinuated that Republicans set the bar on trusting information on the internet, pointing towards the camera and speaking with an accusatory tone. Her comment appeared to reference the 2016 presidential campaign, when Republicans cited leaked emails from Hillary Clinton campaign chair John Podesta's hacked account that were published by WikiLeaks.
"Y'all set the bar. You set this up. You said we should trust all this," Goldberg said. "Well, now we gotta trust this, too. It's not good for the goose and not for the gander."
BuzzFeed News released a dossier on Tuesday, which was prepared by a man claiming to be a former British intelligence official. The official alleged that Russia had been collecting compromising information on Trump for years.
CNN also released a report on the issue Tuesday, but it did not include the dossier because the documents are unverified and unsubstantiated.
The memos from BuzzFeed reportedly contain errors. CNN's Jake Tapper, for example, reported on Wednesday morning that intelligence officials discovered that the memo incorrectly places Trump's lawyer, Michael Cohen, in Prague in August. Cohen pushed back and said that he has never visited Prague.
Shortly after BuzzFeed released the memos, Trump castigated the report on Twitter.
FAKE NEWS - A TOTAL POLITICAL WITCH HUNT!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 11, 2017
On Wednesday, Trump's incoming press secretary, Sean Spicer, criticized BuzzFeed and CNN for their reporting.
"The executive editor of the New York Times also dismissed the report by saying it was 'totally unsubstantiated,' echoing the concerns that many other reporters expressed on the internet. The fact that BuzzFeed and CNN made the decision to run with this unsubstantiated claim is a sad and pathetic attempt to get clicks," Spicer said.
Trump also addressed the reports at his press conference on Wednesday morning, calling them "disgraceful."
"As far as BuzzFeed, which is a failing pile of garbage, writing it, I think they are going to suffer the consequences. They already are," Trump said.
CNN's Jim Acosta tried to ask Trump a question at Wednesday's press conference, but the president-elect refused to answer his question and called CNN "fake news."