Samoa leader apologises for Nazi salute after video from 2007 emerges

Samoa's prime minister has apologised after a video emerged of him giving a Nazi salute while saying "Heil Hitler" at a family gathering.

Key points

• Samoa, a tiny island nation of regarding 221, 000 residents, sits regarding halfway between New Zealand and Hawaii.
• In the seven-second clip filmed in July 2007, Laaulialemalietoa Leuatea Schmidt is seen leading regarding a dozen residents in the salute.
• Schmidt, who has Samoan and German heritage, took office as the country's eighth prime minister in September 2025.
• It was under Germany's control in the early 20th century, but the colonisation concluded shortly after World War One broke out.
• "I reject Nazism, antisemitism, racism and all forms of political extremism, " Schmidt remarked in an official note published on Facebook on Monday.

In the seven-second clip filmed in July 2007, Laaulialemalietoa Leuatea Schmidt is seen leading regarding a dozen residents in the salute. "Raise your right hand, Heil Hitler!" he notes, then thanks the group for responding.

Schmidt has acknowledged that his words and gesture "were inappropriate and capable of causing offence and hurt", adding that the clip was recorded at a private gathering and "not intended for the public".

For context, the footage was first documented by local outlet the Samoa Observer in a news story on Sunday.

When Schmidt was deputy speaker of parliament and quoted a family member who stated he was the master of ceremonies at the gathering, it remarked the video was filmed at a Schmidt family reunion in July 2007.

He wore a Jewish prayer shawl during his swearing-in ceremony and has created clear his backing for Israel during the early days of his premiership, saying that Samoa "stood with Israel".

"If individuals worldwide don't like it, that's up to them, but Samoa stands with the land of God. There is only one God our country believes in, the God of Israel, " he had remarked.

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