Jon Stewart sick of being a ‘turd miner’

Outgoing “Daily Show” host Jon Stewart is opening up about his decision to leave the political comedy program, saying the part of the job requiring him to constantly watch cable news is “incredibly depressing.”

“I live in a constant state of depression,” Stewart told The Guardian. “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.”

After skewering politicians on the nightly satirical newscast for the better part of two decades, Stewart said he arrived at the decision gradually.

“These things are cyclical,” he said. “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.’ ”

He said he found himself less than enthusiastic about the prospect of covering a fifth presidential election.

“I’d covered an election four times, and it didn’t appear that there was going to be anything wildly different about this one,” he told The Guardian.

Even so, Stewart — who admittedly leans liberal in his own politics — said he doesn’t think the long-running show has lost a step.

“It’s not like I thought the 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.’ ”

Comedy Central announced last month that South African comedian Trevor Noah would take Stewart’s place after he leaves the show later this year.