That common sentiment is superficially reasonable, but it falls apart when you think about it just a little bit harder. When you say that a deity "used evolution" you must mean that a deity performed some action (i.e. set up some intial conditions, or moved some atoms around), and the result was something different than what would have been the case had the deity not performed that action. Otherwise you are saying that the deity's existence makes no difference at all to the universe. In the end, you are postulating something just as miraculous as a 7-day creation, albeit more subtle.

Yes, Dick Cheney was temporarily acting President.
I am not sure why you are bringing that up, though. It's a non sequitur.

Joe Biden has never been President, acting or otherwise.

You can just stop right there then.
Joe Biden has never been president.

But then the Chinese were subjugated by other Eurasians who decided not to be insular, but rather to plunder the world for its wealth.

Which is the point of the Fermi paradox - yes, maybe 99% of civilizations might retreat and huddle in Dyson spheres or whatever, but all it takes is one civilization to do otherwise and the galaxy is colonized in less than 1e6 years. That none has apparently done so is a datum whose explanation cannot help but be interesting.

"He said: "Casey took one of our bottles and brought it back for us to try after it had been in the machine. I was amazed, it had definitely aged."

..my continuation:

"..now that I remember it, he insisted that we not be actually present when the machine was in operation. It had to do with the molecules and such, he said."