W.H. Silent on DADT-loving General

While reiterating the president's support for repeal of "don't ask, don't tell," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs didn't condemn the words of Marine general James Amos, who earlier told reporters that allowing gay soldiers to serve openly would lead to military deaths.

"Mistakes and inattention or distractions cost Marines lives," Amos, the Marine Corps commandant, told reporters this week. "That's the currency of this fight. I take that very, very seriously. I don't want to lose any Marines to the distraction. I don't want to have any Marines that I'm visiting at Bethesda [National Naval Medical Center, in Maryland] with no legs be the result of any type of distraction."

The Advocate's Washington correspondent, Kerry Eleveld, asked Gibbs Tuesday about Amos contradicting the president to reporters. Watch the exchange below.