In a new interview, Hillary Clinton ribbed a moderator for confusing two black politicians by deadpanning: “I know, they all look alike.”

Kara Swisher, host of the show Recode Decode, had asked Hillary Clinton how she had felt about the comment “when [Republicans] go low, we kick them,” which Swisher accidentally attributed to Senator Cory Booker.

Mrs Clinton corrected Swisher, pointing out that it was actually Eric Holder, a former Obama administration official, who had said that. Both Mr Booker and Mr Holder are African American men, and Mrs Clinton quipped, “Yeah, I know they all look alike.” The audience responded with laughter and applause.

Swisher responded quickly, saying: "No, they don't." Hillary then said: "I was paid by Mark Zuckerberg to do that," an apparent reference to a recent awkward interview between the Facebook founder and Swisher.

Holder is an active member of the youth mentoring organisation Concerned Black Men and was the first African American to hold the position of Deputy Attorney General of the United States. This year, Cory Booker and Kamala Harris became the first black members of the Senate Judiciary Committee since the 1990’s.

The comment about “kicking” republicans that caused the confusion was in reference to the common phrase “when they go low, we go high.” Holder had explained that he meant that the democratic party had to start being more tough on republicans, instead of always taking the high road. He also clarified that he didn’t mean that democrats should do anything illegal or illicit.

Similarly, Mrs Clinton had said in an interview earlier this month that “you cannot be civil with a political party that wants to destroy what you stand for.”

During the Recode interview, Mrs Clinton also discussed the pipe bombs found in the mail recently, China’s artificial intelligence technology, and the fact that Mrs Clinton does not plan to run for president in the 2020 election, but she does want to be president.