Netflix is remote first. They made that decision during the height of the pandemic and stuck to it.
During the pandemic they made the open statement that people could permanently move, people did (bought houses and the like). They've openly admitted internally that they're stuck with that decision. They even went as far as sharing remote adjusted salaries based on the "tier" of city you were remote in.
Not to be prickly, but you're wrong in the broader sense. The hiring manager was saying that to YOU because they don't want to hire YOU as a remote worker.