At Monday’s U.S. Senate debate, Rep. Loretta Sanchez was asked about her comment last December that as many as 20 percent of Muslims worldwide support establishing an Islamic caliphate “in any way possible.” She stood resolutely by the estimate and said afterward that more people seem to be accepting that estimate.

“No one has refuted those numbers,” the Democrat from Orange said in a phone interview from Stockton following the five-person faceoff. “People are beginning to understand that those are the numbers that are out there.”

Sanchez has referred to several sources, including the respected Pew Research Center, for her December comment on the Larry King show that 5 percent to 20 percent of Muslims support establishing an international Islamic state that transcends borders — even if violence is involved.

Some Muslims at the time acknowledged her positive track record with the Islamic community, but condemned her statement as inappropriately characterizing Muslims and unnecessarily arousing paranoia.

Sanchez also defended herself from GOP candidate Duf Sundheim’s on-stage attack that she often missed Homeland Security Committee meetings. She reiterated her debate comment that those meetings are held at the same time as those of another key committee she sits on — Armed Services.

“It’s a pretty heavy load,” she said afterward. “I stay up to speed on what’s going on and sometimes I’m running from one meeting to the other to be there for key votes. That’s just what happens in Congress. It was clear to me that the other people on the stage don’t understand how Congress works.”

Contact the writer: mwisckol@ocregister.com