The Latest: Biden thanks GOP donors after record fundraising

Democrat Joe Biden is thanking some Republican donors as he celebrates a record-breaking campaign fundraising haul from last month

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The Latest on the 2020 presidential election (all times local):

1:39 p.m.

Joe Biden is thanking some Republican donors as he celebrates a record-breaking campaign fundraising haul from last month.

The former vice president, in conjunction with the Democratic National Committee, raised $383 million in September, breaking the record for monthly contributions he set in August with $364 million.

Biden participated Thursday in a virtual fundraiser hosted by Democratic National Committee Finance Chairman Chris Korge and said of those participating, “Some of you are Republicans, which makes a great deal of difference to me.”

“We’ve raised more than I ever thought we could,” Biden added.

Biden’s campaign said 24 people were on the call but didn’t identify them except for Korge.

Biden also said he’d spoken Wednesday to billionaire Warren Buffett about the candidate’s plans for post-coronavirus pandemic spending that he says will spark an economic recovery.

He said the pair discussed how perhaps “in the last 100 years, we’ve never been in this position to be able to come back and, not only build back better but lead the world.”

“No one can out compete us. I really mean it,” Biden said. “It’s the nature of who we are if we invest in our people.”

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HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE:

President Donald Trump is being forced to play Electoral College defense with a trip to Iowa a state he won handily in 2016 but where Democrat Joe Biden is making a late push. Biden doesn’t have any public campaign events scheduled Wednesday.

Read more:

— President Donald Trump and Joe Biden will compete for TV audiences in dueling town halls.

— Poll by AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds majorities of Americans are highly critical of Trump’s handling of coronavirus pandemic and his own illness.

—Harris temporarily suspend in-person events after two campaign associates test positive for virus.

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HERE'S WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON:

1:33 p.m.

Joe Biden has tested negative for the coronavirus, his campaign said Thursday, the latest in a series of negative tests for the Democratic presidential candidate.

The test result comes even as his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris, has halted her in-person campaigning after two campaign aides tested positive for the virus. Harris traveled with the staffers during a trip to Arizona last week on Oct. 8, during which she and Biden campaigned together.

Biden campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon said Harris had minimal contact with the staffers, but have paused her in-person campaigning out of an “abundance of caution.” Biden was slated to continue with a planned trip to Philadelphia Thursday evening for a televised town hall because he did not come in contact with the staffers.

Both have had multiple negative coronavirus tests since the Oct. 8 trip, Harris’ most recently on Wednesday.