WASHINGTON, July 3 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden

vowed to stay in the 2024 presidential race during a call with

campaign staff on Wednesday and insisted in meetings with

Democratic lawmakers and governors that he is fit for reelection

despite his shaky debate performance last week.

Biden dialed in to a call with worried members of his

campaign team and told them he wasn't going anywhere, according

to two sources familiar with the call.

"No one is pushing me out. I'm not leaving. I'm in this race

to the end," Biden said in an email blast by his campaign,

urging supporters to "pitch in a few bucks" to help defeat his

rival Donald Trump in the Nov. 5 presidential election.

The president met virtually and in person with 24 Democratic

governors and the mayor of Washington, D.C., on Wednesday

evening to reassure them he is up to the job of standard-bearer

for the party after the faltering debate performance.

In that encounter with Trump on Thursday, Biden mumbled

under his breath, lost his train of thought at times and, at one

point, talked of beating Medicare. The president has said that

he was tired after two foreign trips and the White House has

said he had a cold.

Asked Wednesday if Biden was considering stepping down,

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said: "Absolutely

not."

Soon after she spoke, two national polls suggested Biden's

chances against Trump - who rattled off a series of well-worn

falsehoods during the debate - had deteriorated.

A Wall Street Journal survey found Trump beating Biden by a

margin of 48% to 42%, up one percentage point, while a New York

Times/Siena poll found Trump's lead over Biden had widened by

three points to 49% to 43%.

In a call among House Democrats on Wednesday, Arizona's Raúl

Grijalva called for Biden to drop out of the race while

Representative Seth Moulton from Massachusetts pointed to

Biden's age as a liability.

"The unfortunate reality is that the status quo will likely

deliver us President Trump," Moulton said in a statement.

"President Biden is not going to get younger."

While the campaign has highlighted fundraising successes

with grassroots donors and held damage control calls with

donors, Reed Hastings, a major Democratic Party donor and a

co-founder of streaming platform Netflix ( NFLX ), called for

Biden to step aside.

Vice President Kamala Harris has meanwhile gained

support as his potential replacement.

Dmitri Mehlhorn, an adviser to LinkedIn co-founder and

Democratic megadonor Reid Hoffman, told Reuters his team would

"enthusiastically support a ticket led by our tough and savvy

vice president if Biden were to step aside for any reason."

Melhorn said Harris was the only serious national contender

who had already been subjected to major attacks by Trump's "Make

America Great Again" supporters.

"We would lose Joe's superpower brand, but we would gain

other benefits and would still be competitive," he said.

GOVERNORS AS ALTERNATIVES?

Democrats and donors concerned about Biden's viability in

the November election will be closely watching an interview with

ABC News expected to be taped Friday during a campaign visit to

Madison, Wisconsin, and aired throughout the weekend.

The White House said Biden has spoken with Democratic

leaders in Congress as well as Democratic Representative Jim

Clyburn, who was instrumental in Biden's 2020 win.

Clyburn, who has said he would back Harris as the

presidential candidate if Biden stepped aside, told CNN on

Wednesday that the party should hold a "mini-primary" if Biden

steps aside, the first senior party member to talk publicly

about how replacing Biden as a candidate could work.

If Harris were the nominee, this primary process "would give

us an opportunity, not just to measure up who would be good to

be at the top of the ticket, but also who would be best in

second place," he said.

A handful of governors are potential rivals to Biden if

pressure for him to step aside were to increase, but many of

them also speak on Biden's behalf on the campaign trail.

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, California Governor Gavin

Newsom, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, Pennsylvania Governor

Josh Shapiro and Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear have all been

mentioned as possible replacements to Biden.