Faced with Trump’s strong messaging headwind, the RNC has begun explaining the primary and delegate allocation processes in earnest, including in a meeting last week to influential party and campaign surrogates. At the meeting, RNC aides fielded questions and distributed information packets detailing how delegates will be selected in each state and the rules of the most recent convention.

“The RNC is like the groundskeeper at a baseball stadium,” said Ryan Williams, a Republican strategist who attended the meeting but declined to comment on what was discussed. “They’re getting the field ready, putting out the bases, but the game is going to be played and decided by the delegates.”

The party’s messaging is not being restricted to activists alone. The RNC has debuted a “convention facts” webpage; meanwhile, Priebus and other RNC officials have become fixtures on television news and in radio interviews. In public interviews, they have emphasized transparency and the role of the delegates, selected at the state level and responsible for setting the rules at the convention.