The demographic with the highest percentage of people who voted for Trump is older white men. Older men are also the demographic with the highest risk of death

The demographic with the highest percentage of people who voted for Trump is older white men. Older men are also the demographic with the highest risk of death from COVID-19. The worse that the Trump administration does at managing the outbreak, the more of their voters will die before they can vote in November. Considering Trump's slim vote margin of victory in 2016, this could matter. Talk of re-opening the economy early instead serves a different constituency: the people who fund much of the recent Republican political program. These are mostly rich individuals who can make idiosyncratic, self-centered decisions. The result is a Republican political machine that pursues the interests of these individuals, even when it means coming into conflict with the interests of their voters. The reason politicians want to make these funders happy is that, if the politician loses office, these funders are the same people who can set them up with a well-paid gig in the broader political machine. See for example Sarah Palin, who made this work so well that she quit her political job early.