WATCH: MSNBC anchor suggests COVID-19 is like 9/11 'every two days'

Brian Williams and Nicolle Wallace of MSNBC, while anchoring coverage of the 9/11 memorials, discussed the presence of masks at the events and the COVID-19 pandemic overall in comparison to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The subject was introduced by mention of the ever-present COVID-19 masks.

Williams asked Wallace first: "Are you ever struck by the thought that on the 40th, 50th anniversary we will look back, perhaps, at some of these pictures and be reminded, oh, yeah, that's when we were all wearing masks?"

"That's when even our presidents and former presidents had to wear masks in public because of our uncontrolled pandemic in 2021?" he said.

To which, Wallace responded: "Well, I think there are so many parallels to how much more difficult it is to do any of the things that anyone who has spoken today has done, to call the country to a higher purpose."

"You've got politicians and prominent folks in the media outraged by steps that a president, not too many presidents after the one we heard from today, would try to save his country from an unthinkable death toll," continued Wallace.

"As many people die every two days as died on Sept. 11 in this country, who don't have to die," she said to Williams on-air Saturday. "Every two days."

The Biden administration's corporate vaccination mandate requires employers with 100 or more employees to compel employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19 or face fines and termination. Many companies and even state governments, however, have announced collective unwillingness to comply.

As the US commemorates 20 years since the horrific terrorist attacks on American soil, which killed thousands, relatives of 9/11 victims have asked current President Joe Biden to "not show his face" at the Ground Zero memorials.