The first three words in the preamble to the Constitution weren’t originally intended to be a means by which a perpetually aggrieved victim class could self-righteously posture. Quite the opposite, in fact. They were a declaration of intent; a mission statement at the inauguration of a radical experiment in republican self-governance. Now “We the People” is being co-opted. Republicans of the pro-Trump variety are wielding these words as a weapon. The phrase has become a contradictory rallying cry by which they justify their sense of persecution while at the same time emphasizing their virtuousness and legitimate authority. In the context of the ongoing talk of a coup at the Republican nominating convention with the aim of deposing Donald Trump, the phrase is also a threat. The coup remains unlikely, but not because it is the revolt of a minority faction against an oppressed majority. Trump supporters were and remain a plurality of the GOP, but their greatest allies are today the loyal institutionalists of the Republican Party, whom they once so fervently denigrated.

The move to “dump Trump” at the convention is a multi-front effort. Behind the scenes, a small fraction of delegates to the GOP’s Rules Committee seeks to introduce a measure that would free convention delegates to “vote their consciences.” More visibly, lawsuits, like one targeting Virginia’s binding laws, seek to liberate the delegates through the courts. With less than three weeks to go before the GOP gathers in Cleveland to attend a coronation slash variety show, these efforts are probably quixotic. That is not, however, because they lack popular Republican support.

Trump voters are understandably vexed when reminded of the fact that a majority of Republican primary voters did not cast a ballot for their candidate. They were reminded again of that nagging reality by a pair of polls released this week showing the GOP isn’t rallying around Trump. According to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey, 45 percent of GOP respondents “are satisfied with Trump as the nominee.” Fifty-two percent, meanwhile, would prefer someone else. Those results were confirmed by a Fox News poll published on Wednesday showing 51 percent of Republicans want to see someone other than Trump emerge from the convention as the party’s nominee.

“Seventy-one percent of Republicans say Trump is ‘obnoxious’,” wrote the Washington Post’s Philip Bump, reporting the results of Fox’s latest survey. “Thirty-seven percent say he’s not sensible. Forty-four percent say Trump’s not experienced.” The latest ABC News/Washington Post poll found 62 percent of self-described Republicans want to hear their party’s leaders speak out against Trump when he earns their rebuke, which isn’t infrequently. Finally, while Hillary Clinton has been consolidating the support of her fellow Democrats, GOP support for Trump is moving in the wrong direction. The Fox poll showed 74 percent of Republicans back Trump over Clinton, down from 82 percent in May. The flight of Republicans from Trump’s side in the last month is measurable across multiple surveys.

Given all this, it might come as a surprise that the same NBC News/WSJ poll that showed a majority of Republicans succumbing to buyer’s remorse also found 67 percent of Republicans think the convention’s delegates should still nominate Trump. That becomes less of a shock when considering that the Republican Party’s is doing all that it can to quash the nascent coup. The alternative—a confidence-sapping, institution-shattering revolt on the convention floor against the primary process and those who benefit from it—is unthinkable.

According to the New York Times, the RNC is working hand-in-hand with the Trump campaign to install “loyal party stalwarts in key party positions” that will preserve the celebrity candidate’s position. Both Trump and the RNC are running a sophisticated whip operation to prevent delegates from going off the reservation.

The RNC has its hands full. Their petulant charge isn’t making their efforts to clean up after him easy.

Trump continues to alienate party members. He has insisted that Ohio Governor John Kasich and Texas Senator Ted Cruz will be barred from speaking at the convention unless they renounce all doubt in the presumptive nominee. On Wednesday, he insisted that some unknown authority should block Republicans who decline to endorse him from ever again seeking public office. The Trump campaign has no presence in key states like Pennsylvania and was outspent by Hillary Clinton and her allies in May to the tune of $26 million to zero. All that is keeping a herd of nervous Republicans from stampeding away from Trump in Cleveland are the zealous efforts of party stalwarts to keep them in line, or else.

And that’s what should impose some humility and propriety on the “We the People” crowd. They were and remain a mere plurality of the Republican Party, and their position is only being maintained by the efforts of an institution they claim to despise. Trump supporters are not victims; they are the beneficiaries of undue and privileged deference. Donald Trump and his supporters only have themselves to blame for a lack of party unity. They should be thanking the RNC daily for protecting themselves from the consequences of their actions.