text: 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 don'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] wasn't working any more, or that I didn'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 didn'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 couldn't reignite Stewart's passion the way it once did. 'I'd covered an election four times, and it didn'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 didn'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 hasn'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 hasn'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 don'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.'
target: Two months 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 didn't have many regrets, but one was not pushing Donald Rumsfeld harder when he had the chance in 2011 .