Donald Trump has been criticized for proposing a temporary ban on Muslim immigration and closer surveillance of mosques.  But these moves are widely popular.  He has only extended his lead in the latest polls, jumping to 35% in the latest NYT poll.  Polls have shown that the majority of Americans have an unfavorable view of Islam – not surprising, given the nature of recent terrorist attacks.

And now the amazing thing is that even some Democrats are starting to talk about this formerly taboo topic.  Loretta Sanchez, who is running in a contested primary for the U.S. Senate in ultra-liberal California, made a point of saying that up to 20% of Muslims support establishing a caliphate.

A prominent Democratic congresswoman and Senate candidate said that up to 20 percent of Muslims want to establish an Islamic caliphate and would use "terrorism" to achieve that goal.

Rep. Loretta Sanchez said Muslims seeking a caliphate are willing to use terrorism and violence to impose their views on the Western world.

"We know that there is a small group, and we don't know how big that is — it can be anywhere between 5 and 20 percent, from the people that I speak to — that Islam is their religion and who have a desire for a caliphate and to institute that in any way possible," Sanchez said on "PoliticKING with Larry King."

"They are not content enough to have their way of looking at the world, they want to put their way on everybody in the world," she said. "And again, I don't know how big that is, and depending on who you talk to, but they are certainly — they are willing to go to extremes. They are willing to use and they do use terrorism."

Sanchez is running against Democratic state Attorney General Kamala Harris for the California Senate seat being vacated by retiring Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer. Harris is the front-runner in the race, but Sanchez has wide support among Hispanics who want to see a Latino elected from the state.

Her comments, which were first reported by Buzzfeed, come amid a heightened focus on Islam. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said this week he supports banning all Muslims from entering the United States, a statement that was widely criticized by lawmakers across the political spectrum.

Can you imagine any Democrat, much less one from California, saying this before Donald Trump spoke out?

And look at what Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, from ultra-liberal Hawaii, has to say about the same subject:

DNC Vice Chair Representative Rep. Tulsi Gabbard argued that it's "crazy" to refuse to say the phrase "Islamic extremism" on Friday's broadcast of HBO's "Real Time."

She added that refusing to condemn Islamic extremism as it is "gets in the way of us being able to accomplish our mission and defeat those who are threatening us. And it goes to…the problem of not really recognizing hey, there actually are things that are right and wrong, and these honor killings, and these other things, they are clearly and absolutely wrong."

On Fox she added:

"Every soldier knows this simple fact: If you don't know your enemy, you will not be able to defeat him," Ms. Gabbard said, Fox News reported Saturday. "Our leaders must clearly identify the enemy as Islamist extremists, understand the ideology that is motivating them and attracting new recruits, and focus on defeating that enemy both militarily and ideologically."

Remember when it wasn't politically correct to say even "radical Islam"?  Now we have even some Democrats saying it.  They know that the overwhelming majority of Americans don't support the Democratic Party talking points on this issue.  It's just another measure of how much Donald Trump has changed the debate.

This article was written by Ed Straker, senior writer of NewsMachete.com, the conservative news site.