Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart admit late night hosts have become 'turd miners' in the Trump era

But Stewart insists he is staying 'out of the turd business'

(CBS)

The tone of late night chat shows has changed considerably since Donald Trump was elected, going from playful to more polemic.

This is particularly true of The Late Show, which has seen host Stephen Colbert wage war on the President night after night.

Colbert's old Daily Show boss, John Stewart, returned to the hot seat in Tuesday night's episode, grilling Colbert as though he were a guest and asking him about his new role as the POTUS's nemesis.

“You and I both famously know, we were turd miners,” Stewart said.

“So working at The Daily Show I felt as though I was toiling in the turd mines. And then I finally quit, and a giant turd asteroid heads towards the planet.

"Now, in that instance," Stewart continued, "if someone said, ‘You were a turd miner. This is the largest turd deposit ever seen. Don’t you wish you were in there?’ And you’re just like, ‘I’m out of the turd business.’”

Colbert didn't disagree with the characterisation, responding: "Come on in, Jon. The turd's fine."

The host is far from the only late-night stalwart to double down on his opposition to Trump and the Republican party.

"Three years ago I was equally liked by Republicans and Democrats, and then the Republican numbers went way down, like 30 per cent or whatever," Jimmy Kimmel told CBS in October 2017.

He admitted that "as a talk show host, that's not ideal," but said that he "would do it again in a heartbeat. I probably wouldn't want to have a conversation with them anyway."