Two months after announcing that he is leaving The Daily Show , Jon Stewart has revealed that he decided to quit because he was becoming increasing depressed watching cable news . Two months after announcing that he is leaving The Daily Show , Jon Stewart has revealed that he decided to call time on his 17 year reign because he was becoming increasing depressed by American politics and watching cable news . Speaking for the first time since making his shock decision , Stewart said he was looking forward to not having to watch the 'relentless ' 24-hour news networks anymore . 'Watching these channels all day is incredibly depressing , ' Stewart told The Guardian . ' I live in a constant state of depression . I think of us as turd miners . I put on my helmet , I go and mine turds , hopefully I do n't get turd lung disease . ' Asked if he 'd ever voluntarily watch Fox News , Stewart said , 'Let 's say that it 's a nuclear winter , and I have been wandering , and there appears to be a flickering light through what appears to be a radioactive cloud and I think that light might be a food source that could help my family . ' I might glance at it for a moment until I realize , that 's Fox News , and then I shut it off . ' Stewart also confessed that his 'moments of dissatisfaction ' with the show had started to become more frequent . 'It 's not like I thought [ The Daily Show ] was n't working any more , or that I did n't know how to do it . It was more , `` Yup , it 's working . But I 'm not getting the same satisfaction , ' '' he said . 'These things are cyclical . You have moments of dissatisfaction , and then you come out of it and it 's OK . But the cycles become longer and maybe more entrenched , and that 's when you realize , `` OK , I 'm on the back side of it now . ' '' Scroll down for video . Stewart said he did n't have many regrets from his time hosting the Comedy Central show , but one was not pushing Donald Rumsfeld harder when he had the chance in 2011 . Even the upcoming 2016 Presidential election campaign could n't reignite Stewart 's passion the way it once did . ' I 'd covered an election four times , and it did n't appear that there was going to be anything wildly different about this one , ' said Stewart . 'Honestly , it was a combination of the limitations of my brain and a format that is geared towards following an increasingly redundant process , which is our political process . ' I was just thinking , `` Are there other ways to skin this cat ? ' And , beyond that , it would be nice to be home when my little elves get home from school , occasionally . '' Stewart also said he did n't have many regrets from his time hosting the Comedy Central show , but one was not pushing Donald Rumsfeld harder when he had the chance . The former secretary of defense appeared on The Daily Show in 2011 for an interview , which the comedian says he messed up . Although Stewart has n't set an official exit date , Comedy Central announced last month that comedian and The Daily Show correspondent Trevor Noah , left , would be taking over . 'He just went into the general gobbledegook , ' said Stewart . `` Mnah mnah mnah , well , you have to remember , it was 9/11 mnah mnah . '' I should have pushed , but he 's very adept at deflecting . ' Rumsfeld , who was on the show to promote his memoir , Known And Unknown , dodged Stewart 's questions about faulty U.S. intelligence leading up to the Iraq War . Although Stewart has n't set an official exit date , Comedy Central announced last month that comedian and The Daily Show correspondent Trevor Noah , 31 , would be taking over . Noah has already had to combat accusations of anti-Semitism over a series of old tweets . Stewart has voiced his full support for his successor , recently calling the incoming host 'incredibly thoughtful and considerate and funny and smart . ' The exiting host told The Guardian that one reason for stepping down early in the presidential election cycle was to give Noah a big story to tackle . Stewart said he felt 'that , for the show , you do n't want to leave when the cupboard 's bare . So I think it 's a better introduction when you have something providing you with assisted fuel , like a presidential campaign . '
2011 after announcing he is leaving Stewart has revealed that he was becoming increasing depressed watching cable news . ' I live in a constant state of depression . I think of us as turd miners , ' he said . Stewart also confessed that his 'moments of dissatisfaction ' with the show had started to become more frequent . Comedian said he did n't have many regrets , but one was not pushing Donald Rumsfeld harder when he had the chance in Two months .