Jebus, stop trying to find a single group to blame, it’s the entire god damn American public that’s at fault.
White, Latino, Blacks, Asians, men, women, Catholics, Mormons, Muslims, atheists, Republicans, Democrats, progressives, everyone in America knew who Trump and Republicans are and screwed the pooch and the entirety of America.
The way its used in conservative circles in the 21st and late 20nd centuries does mean that they see the empathy as performative and either self serving or naive, not that they think the person simply cares too much. Up until about a decade ago they might have even seen empathy as a noble trait, as long as it was backed up by personal action.
Based on your response, I’m guessing you didn’t read about the history of the phrase that I linked, which explains what it meant and how it was used in the early, mid, and late 20th century. As well as the 21st century.
Just because you think something means something doesn’t mean it’s true.