Former South Carolina gov Nikki Haley, Gov Ron Desantis of Florida and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy during the third Republican presidential debate in Miami. Photograph: Scott McIntyre/The New York Times A day after Republicans suffered a string of off-year election defeats, five of the party’s presidential hopefuls took part in a hostile primary debate on Wednesday, clashing in a competition for second place behind absentee frontrunner Donald Trump. On stage in Miami, the debate was dominated by foreign questions about the Israel-Hamas war, immigration and China. But the contenders also decried the losses in Ohio, Kentucky and Virginia, warning that 2024…