[SPOILERS INFINITE] If the two most noble characters both think very highly of Robert - why doesn't the fandom?
Often I see people who say Robert was a terrible king and person. And pretty much everyone acknowledges Ned is perhaps the best human being in the books. "Best" as in the opposite of being evil, I mean.
While Barrristan gets some shit for being a yes-man, I think it's clear GRRM intended for him to be regarded as one of the few "true knights" in the books.
Barrristan in the series say, and this was back when GRRM was involved and the plot had some sense, that Robert was "a good man".
When Danaerys scolds him for betraying Robert, he still chooses to say:
"Robert was ... A good knight. Chivalrous. Brave"
If Barrristan calls someone a good knight ... That guy can't be anything else than a supremely good knight.
When Robert lay dying, Ned's voice was "thick with grief".
GRRM on his blog mentions that Robert was carelessly generous.
I feel like Beric now, as if I'm be saying "Robert may be dead, but his be realm remains. And we defend her* ...
Do you get my point? The only people in the series that dislike him, are the Lannisters and Dany. It's obvious why Dany does, and the Lannisters ≠ moral compass.
Freaking Jamie, a man who tried to murder a boy by while he fucks his own married twin sister, is generally seen in a MUCH more positive light than Robert
How is my reasoning flawed?
Varys, who we know from GRRM, is deep down a good guy - he emailed this info to the actor who plays Varys ... Varys flat out says that he protected Robert for 15 years and was "truly desperate to keep [him] alive".