A decades-old video showing Samoa’s sitting Prime Minister Laaulialemalietoa Leuatea Schmidt performing a Nazi salute and shouting the pro-Nazi slogan “Heil Hitler” has ignited widespread public controversy across the Pacific island nation, prompting the nation’s leader to issue a formal public apology for the deeply offensive act.
The seven-second footage, filmed in July 2007 at a private Schmidt family reunion, captures Schmidt—who served as deputy speaker of Samoa’s parliament at the time of the gathering—leading roughly a dozen attendees in the banned gesture. In the clip, he instructs the group: “Raise your right hand, Heil Hitler!” before thanking participants for following his command.
The video was first brought to public attention by local Samoan news outlet the Samoa Observer in a report published on Sunday. Journalists from the outlet confirmed the context of the recording: the event was a family reunion, and Schmidt was working as the master of ceremonies for the gathering, according to an unnamed family member who spoke to the publication.
In an official statement posted to his official Facebook page on Monday, Schmidt acknowledged the gravity of his past actions. He admitted that his words and gesture “were inappropriate and capable of causing offence and hurt”, noting that the clip was recorded during a closed private gathering and “not intended for the public” to see. The prime minister also issued a clear rejection of harmful extremist ideologies, writing: “I reject Nazism, antisemitism, racism and all forms of political extremism.”
Located roughly midway between Hawaii and New Zealand, Samoa is a small Pacific island nation with a total population of approximately 221,000. The country carries a unique historical connection to Germany: it was controlled by the German empire as a colonial territory in the early 20th century, with German colonial rule ending shortly after the outbreak of World War I.
Schmidt, who has mixed Samoan and German heritage, assumed office as Samoa’s eighth prime minister in September 2025. Notably, during his official swearing-in ceremony, he wore a Jewish prayer shawl, and he has publicly stated his strong support for Israel since taking office. Early in his premiership, he affirmed that “Samoa stands with Israel”, adding: “If people around the world 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.”