What the Truth Social episode establishes institutionally is a new template for plausible deniability around AI-generated political content. The post came approximately 45 minutes after Trump published a lengthy attack on Pope Leo XIV, which means the image entered a specific rhetorical context — not as an isolated post but as a paired provocation. Deleting it and attributing the controversy to fake news then allows the original provocation to do its work while the poster escapes accountability for the response. The practical consequence is that "fake news" now operates as…