During the latest episode of ABC News’ “The Week With George Stephanopoulos” on Sunday, Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) seemed to signal the Democrats’ talking points for the indictment against former President Donald Trump. Acting as a surrogate for the Administration, he tried to portray President Joe Biden as above the fray. Neither Biden nor the White House have commented on the indictment.

While waving away the charge that the Justice Department and federal agencies like the FBI have been weaponized, Coons admitted that Trump deserves the presumption of innocence, due process, and able legal counsel:

“Former Pres. Trump has no one to blame but himself for being federally, criminally indicted.”

Democratic Sen. Chris Coons tells @GStephanopoulos that Trump “behaved in ways markedly different from former Vice Pres. Pence or Pres. Biden.” https://t.co/Ise3ja0zwf pic.twitter.com/81XNLuKxtK

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) June 11, 2023

Under our system, anyone who is charged with a federal crime is entitled to due process of law, to effective representation, and to a presumption of innocence.

But Coons also talked about who he says the indictment clearly blames for the case being brought at all—Donald Trump himself:

Former President Trump has no one to blame but himself for being federally criminally indicted.

He continued:

The critical differences in the conduct of the charged individual here, former President Trump, from the conduct of Vice President Pence and President Biden is the basis of this case.

He also pointed to the fact that Jack Smith is a “career federal prosecutor” who handled the cases of prominent Democrats, including Democrat presidential candidate John Edwards:

“I think the challenges here are for Republicans to explain to the American people why they are confident Pres. Trump should be reelected, given his casual, even callous, mishandling of critical national security documents,” Sen. Chris Coons says. https://t.co/Ise3ja0zwf pic.twitter.com/APPofJ8qIv

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) June 11, 2023

Check out, though, this gaslighting from Coons that really takes the cake, when he calls Biden “sharp” and “skillful,” mentioning the president’s negotiations and completion of the debt ceiling deal with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), and insisting it’s only opponents who say otherwise about him.

Pres. Biden is “sharp, he's skillful, and he's continuing to lead as our president, despite the distractions of former Pres. Trump's rising legal problems,” Democratic Sen. Chris Coons tells @GStephanopoulos. https://t.co/Ise3ja0zwf pic.twitter.com/s6nzrufXTb

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) June 11, 2023

Despite some suggestions by his opponents, he’s sharp, he’s skillful, and he’s continuing to lead as our president despite the distractions of former President Trump’s rising legal problems.

Putting the indictment and Trump aside for a moment, you really have to admire the man’s guts here, when it’s not just Republicans who have been noticing Biden’s diminishing capabilities for a while now. As I said, this seems to be the storyline going forward for the Biden Administration from campaign surrogates: Biden’s just too busy being a great president to bother with Trump’s legal troubles. There are already some new, post-indictment polls to consider; we’ll see if this narrative flies with the American people over the long term.