That was an interesting moment.
I think Pence has the attitude that it’s better to nip the misstatement in the bud. POTUS covered well.
It may be as simple as what defines simple for the two men. A respirator wouldn’t be a simple machine for a general machine shop to build to build but auto manufacturers are used to a very different level of sophistication and circuitry.
I’ve said Trump should focus on economic matters, and Pence on the medical ones.