Hours after emerging as a major force in the Democratic presidential primary by savaging Joe Biden, Kamala Harris played clean-up Friday by insisting she doesn't want to 'abolish' private medical insurance.

The California senator raised her hand during Thursday's debate, along with Vermont Democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders, signifying she would be willing to do away with private health care plans in favor of a government-run monopoly.

By Friday morning, however, she was insisting she misheard the question.

'The question was, would you give up your private insurance for that [public] option, and I said yes,' she told 'Morning Joe' hosts on MSNBC.

NBC News anchor Lester Holt had framed the question on Thursday in a way that gives Harris some wiggle-room.

Sen. Kamala Harris insisted Friday morning that she doesn't want to eliminate all private medical insurance as part of a government-run 'Medicare For All' takeover

Harris and Bernie Sanders raised their hands on Thursday in response to a question about whether they would 'abolish' private health plans as president

'Many people watching at home have health insurance through their employer,' Holt told the panel of 10 candidates. 'Who here would abolish their private health insurance in favor of a government-run plan?'

Harris contended on Friday that she heard the word 'their' as a reference to her own personal insurance policy. Holt meant the word to refer to all Americans enrolled in insurance through their jobs.

'You heard it differently than others, then,' interviewer Willie Geist told her on Friday.

'Probably,' she replied.

Harris threaded the needle on 'CBS This Morning,' saying that under her preferred 'Medicare For all' model 'private insurance would certainly exist for supplemental coverage.'

'We would actually extend benefits. For example, vision care, dental care, hearing aids, which currently are not covered,' she said.

Some studies have suggested that a socialized 'Medicare For All' system would eliminate private insurance over a four-year glidepath.

Harris has been forced to clarify her position on private medical insurance before.

Harris said in January that it was time for Americans to 'move on' from the private medical insurance industry, only to claim months later that she only meant to condemn the bureaucracy

Harris made the TV rounds on Friday after vaulting into the top tier on the strength of a debate performance heavy on race politics

During a January town hall event, she told CNN anchor Jake Tapper that she proposes making sure 'everyone gets access to medical care, and you don’t have to go through the process of going through an insurance company, having them give you approval, going through the paperwork, all of the delay that may require.'

'Who of us has not had that situation where you’ve got to wait for approval, and the doctor says, "Well, I don’t know if your insurance company is going to cover this"?' she said then.

'Let’s eliminate all of that. Let’s move on.'

Harris added that it's 'inhumane to make people go through a system where they cannot literally receive the benefit of what medical science can offer because some insurance company has decided it doesn't meet their bottom line in terms of their profit motivation.'

Within hours her campaign was telling CNN that she was 'open to the more moderate health reform plans, which would preserve the industry, being floated by other congressional Democrats.'

But four months later Harris told Tapper she never meant to suggest all private health insurance should be abolished in the U.S.

The 'Medicare For All' proposal, championed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, would force Americans into a Medicare plan regardless of their ability to pay for private insurance

The question about abolishing private insurance attracted two fans during Thursday night's portion of hte two-day debate event: New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (left) and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (right)

'It was in the context of saying, "Let's get rid of all the bureaucracy. Let's get all of the waste",' she said in May.

'Oh, not the insurance companies?' Tapper asked.

'No. That's not what I meant. I know it was interpreted that way,' Harris replied. 'If you watch the tape, I think you'll see that there are obviously many interpretations of what I said. What I meant is, "Let's get rid of the bureaucracy".'

Thursday night's debate moment in Miami generated one other curiosity: a third hand that rose slowly after Harris and sanders shot theirs up with authority on the question of whether to 'abolish' private plans.

That hand was Joe Biden's. The former vice president sheepishly signaled his assent after seeing that his two main rivals were drawing applause for offering theirs.

Debate moderators asked the same question Thursday of the first 10 Democrats to tangle in Miami.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio were the only two candidates toraise their hands.