The delegates are legally pledged to the popular vote winner though. Delegates pledged to a candidate who dropped out before the convention will typically vote for whomever their pledged candidate endorsed when they dropped out. If you’re thinking of the superdelegates, they don’t even get a vote unless the pledged delegates aren’t able to elect a nominee in the first round (this change went into effect in 2018).
The delegates are legally pledged to the popular vote winner though. Delegates pledged to a candidate who dropped out before the convention will typically vote for whomever their pledged candidate endorsed when they dropped out. If you’re thinking of the superdelegates, they don’t even get a vote unless the pledged delegates aren’t able to elect a nominee in the first round (this change went into effect in 2018).