Jon Stewart Quit ‘The Daily Show’ Because He Is Sick Of ‘Turd Mining’ and ‘Fox News’
Jon Stewart spent almost 17-years hosting The Daily Show. Now, two months after his announcing his decision to quit the popular show, Stewart has decided it is time to explain his decision. Stewart has opened up to Hadley Freeman from the Guardian to explain his reasons for quitting the satirical news program, and why he chose to quit now when there is a U.S. election on the horizon.
The Daily Mail reports that Jon Stewart told the Guardian he was quitting because he was sickened and depressed by American politics and by spending his time watching cable TV news channels. Stewart admitted that he was excited by the prospect of not having to watch 24-hour news any longer.
“Watching these channels all day is incredibly depressing. 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.”
Jon Stewart is clearly not a fan the Fox News network, for whom he reserved a special level of scorn, saying that he would turn it off even if it offered hope of help for his family in the midst of a nuclear winter.
“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 [would] shut it off.”
According to Washington Post, Stewart also felt jaded by “the shows format that is geared towards following an increasingly redundant process, which is our political process.”
The combination of factors simply left Jon Stewart feeling that he had gone as far as he could with The Daily Show and that his “moments of dissatisfaction” were becoming more frequent. He admitted that the shows format still worked but that he was getting less personal satisfaction from it. Stewart explained that in any job you have periods of dissatisfaction, but when the cycles get longer and more frequent thats when you should realise it is time to move on.
In a typical self-effacing style, Jon Stewart admitted that the the The Daily Show will continue to be a success without him fronting it.
“The value of this show is so much deeper than my contribution, If Oprah can leave and the world still spins, I honestly think it will survive me.”
The world will keep turning but Jon Stewart will be missed by many.
[hoto by Roger L. Wollenberg-Pool/Getty Images]
