Not since Hillary was loaded into a van unconscious have I seen a political leader stumble this much. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker was joining his fellow Euro-leaders at a NATO dinner in Brussels and seemed to have a lot of trouble keeping his balance. From Politico Europe:

Video footage that was published Thursday from the event at Parc du Cinquantenaire in Brussels on Wednesday shows the 63-year-old struggling with his balance and being given assistance by, among others, the prime minister of the Netherlands and the president of Ukraine…

Juncker told the Irish parliament in June that he suffers from sciatica (pain along the sciatic nerve, which runs down one or both legs from the lower back), which causes problems with walking.

Sciatica is a real thing. People who suffer from it often walk stiffly and may have to sit or stretch frequently. Juncker may well have sciatica but I think the problem here looks like something else. Have a look at the video and then we’ll discuss.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmU1mSPZNig

What I’m seeing is someone who is stumbling backward, even bumping into people, but not really displaying signs of pain or awareness of how odd his behavior seems. Equally odd is the fact that his fellow world leaders seem to be trying very hard to hold him up without drawing attention to the fact. It’s almost as if they know there’s something else going on but they don’t want to call attention to it. The Sun reports this isn’t the first time Juncker has appeared to have been drinking before a public event:

In May 2017, Mr Juncker faced awkward questions after it was claimed he was drunk during a United Nation’s peace summit in Geneva, Switzerland.

Diplomatic sources told The Sun at the time the EU Commission chief was “very visibly” drunk…

A diplomatic source told The Sun: “It was clear Juncker was very well refreshed.

“He was bumping around into things, and going up to junior members of staff for conversations.

“It was odd behaviour, and a little bit embarrassing for everyone”.

Here’s another clip from 2015 in which Juncker appears to be taking glad-handing of world leaders to a new level. I have no idea what the news announcer is saying, just watch Juncker slap several of his fellow leaders in the face:

One of the people Juncker slapped in the face that day was Hungary’s Viktor Orban whom he greeted as “dictator” in front of the media. Does sciatica explain this too?