| In this analysis, I argue that Eight Songs for a Mad Kinghas the capacity to reveal the lasting madness of sovereignty itself as realized in the physical bodies of the king and the subjects. In many ways, the performance ofthe mad king mirrors our world now and drives this project. So, I will investigate how the political implications of Eight Songsreverberate in the echo-chamber of (in)excusable language and behavior exhibited by President Donald J. Trump.This analysis shows that demagoguery rests at the intersection of sovereignty and democracy, enabling such a comparison. By working through the lens of demagoguery, I will reveal how dysfunction allows for assumed power dynamics and associated capacities to be inverted. These paradoxes productively feed on and result in the politicization of madness and control through affectations of ethos, which ultimately establishes a foundation for actionable political discourse. Key Words: demagoguery, post-truth rhetoric, ethos, audience, rhetoric, political rhetoric, Donald J. Trump, paradox |