White House Press Secretary Jay Carney Wednesday challenged Republican presidential candidates for standing silent when an audience in front of them booed a gay soldier serving in Iraq. “He is over there in harm's way, risking his life on behalf of every one of us,” Carney said of the soldier who appeared on video at last Thursday’s Republican debate in Orlando to ask about the repeal of the policy that prohibited gay solders like him from serving while publicly acknowledging their sexual orientation. “He asks a legitimate question about `don't ask/don't tell’ and what these candidates might do, because it personally affects him. And there were boos in the audience,” Carney said at Wednesday’s White House news briefing. “There was no response,” Carney added. “No one on the stage said, `Wait a second, regardless of what you believe about this issue, we should thank this soldier, if he's over there risking his life for us.’ … I think that it's an important thing to note, when the job that they are auditioning for is the job of commander in chief.”