Taking an approved AP course and passing an AP exam are two quite different things, although the second usually follows the first.
Taking an approved AP course, and doing well, mostly impact on college admission. They want to see rigorous class standard, and AP gives that. This doesn’t mean that AP courses are the best. Some schools have advanced courses beyond AP level, such as post AP level organic chemistry or advanced mathematics with multi-variable calculus as prerequisite. Some schools offer none AP but equivalent or even more rigorous courses of their own, which could “trash”, although I think the choice of word is too strong, AP courses if their resources allowed them to offer something better and colleges know it.
AP exam credit is a very different thing. Usually it doesn’t matter where you took the course, or didn’t take any course at all. Collegeboard is not a government branch. While it is still a not-for-profit organization, it does make good profit and pays good, if not excessive. compensation to its officers. College level courses are not of equal rigor and general consensus seems that AP credit lies in the low spectrum of them. Therefore, it is only natural that colleges with higher rigor are less likely to accept it, although some public schools are exceptions - such as upper tier UC campuses.
Some people believe that AP courses and credits are of higher value than they actually are, and arguing that they are not is not exactly “trashing” them.
While rigor of AP exam is standardized, AP courses are not so much. Average AP exam score for students who aced the same subject AP courses seems to vary significantly between high schools that the courses were offered.
My daughter’s school, Grier, does not offer AP English Language, and either standard or honors English for their own grade is mandatory until 11th grade. Still, she says their 11th grade Honors English course is considered as the most rigorous course of the school by many students.