APIA, Samoa — Samoa’s Prime Minister Laaulialemalietoa Leuatea Schmidt has apologised after the publication of a nearly two-decade-old video showing him making a Nazi salute and saying “Heil Hitler” at a family gathering.
The seven-second recording was made during a Schmidt family reunion on the island of Savaiʻi in July 2007, when Schmidt was a member of parliament and deputy speaker of Samoa’s legislature.
The footage became public after the Samoa Observer reported on it over the weekend. Schmidt responded on Monday, October 5, 2026, in a statement issued through the government, acknowledging both the words and gesture.
“I reject Nazism, antisemitism, racism and all forms of political extremism,” Schmidt said.
He said the conduct did not represent his personal beliefs or the values of Samoa’s government and people.
Video Shows Group Joining Salute
In the recording, Schmidt is seen holding a microphone while addressing people gathered around him.
According to accounts of the footage, he first leads a “hip hip” exchange before instructing those present to raise their right hands and say “Heil Hitler.” About a dozen people visible in the recording appear to follow the gesture.
Radio New Zealand independently verified the footage through its correspondent in Samoa, according to reports.
Schmidt did not dispute that he was the person shown in the video.
He said the episode occurred during a private family event and had not been intended for public viewing.
“Whatever the context or intention at that gathering twenty years ago,” he said, the words and gesture were inappropriate and capable of causing hurt.
What immediately preceded or followed the brief recording has not been made public, and Schmidt did not offer a fuller explanation of why he performed the salute.
Schmidt Was Deputy Speaker at the Time
Schmidt had entered parliament before the video was recorded and was serving as deputy speaker in 2007.
He became prime minister in 2025 following a snap election and now heads Samoa’s government while also holding responsibility for several portfolios, including foreign affairs and trade, police and prisons, and the Office of the Attorney General. Samoa’s official government directory lists him as Laaulialemalietoa Leuatea Polataivao Fosi Schmidt.
His apology said the government remained committed to constitutional democracy, human dignity, and the rule of law.
The prime minister indicated that he considered his statement sufficient to address the controversy and said his government would concentrate on Samoa’s economic and social priorities.
Video Emerges During Dispute With Newspaper
The controversy has also drawn attention to an existing dispute between Schmidt’s government and the Samoa Observer, the newspaper that first disclosed the recording.
Schmidt suspended the newspaper from his weekly press conferences in November 2025, accusing it of misleading reporting. The restriction was extended to events involving Cabinet ministers.
The Samoan government published Schmidt’s statement at the time explaining the suspension.
The dispute intensified shortly before publication of the Nazi-salute video when Schmidt confirmed that a government aide had deleted photographs from an Observer reporter’s camera during an official event.
The prime minister defended that action on the grounds that the newspaper was barred from covering the event.
The Observer has described the restrictions as authoritarian, while journalists’ organisations in the Pacific have criticised the government’s treatment of the newspaper.
Prime Minister Has Publicly Supported Israel
Schmidt has also repeatedly expressed support for Israel since becoming prime minister.
At his swearing-in ceremony in 2025, he wore a Jewish prayer shawl, and a shofar, a horn used in Jewish religious ceremonies, was sounded.
His government has said it intends to establish a Samoan embassy in Jerusalem before the end of 2026, a move that would place Samoa among a small number of countries maintaining their Israeli embassies there rather than in Tel Aviv.
In his statement responding to the 2007 footage, Schmidt explicitly rejected antisemitism along with Nazism, racism, and political extremism.
The video itself predates his premiership by 18 years.
Its publication has nevertheless forced the prime minister to account publicly for conduct from an earlier stage of his political career, while leaving unanswered what prompted the salute at the family gathering.
