DE courses show academic rigor. Also colleges/universities that do not accept AP credit, may accept the CC courses for credit.
For the UC’s and CSU’s specifically, they view CC courses that are UC/CSU transferable, the same as AP/IB courses but if transferable, you will get college credit toward your degree. It will also free up space in your schedule to take more classes of interest.
The possible downside to DE courses is that the grades (if not great) will be permanently on your college record and will have to be disclosed when applying to Graduate/Professional schools.