It seems that high amounts of salt are "bad for you" only in the context of low potassium. But most doctors either aren't aware of the fact that there needs to be a certain proportion of salt and potassium, or they don't bother telling patients because the doctors know most people won't eat anymore potassium-rich foods, so they just tell them to "eat less salt."

This video has some references to studies backing this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amJ-ev8Ial8

There's also this book that argues for the importance of salt in our food, of which I heard good things but haven't read:

https://www.amazon.com/Salt-Fix-Experts-Wrong-Eating-ebook/d...