Samoa’s Prime Minister Laʻauli Leuatea Schmidt apologized on Monday after a resurfaced 2007 video showed him performing a Nazi salute and saying “Heil Hitler.”
The seven-second clip published by a local newspaper shows the then deputy parliament speaker holding a microphone at a family reunion, telling attendees to raise their right hands and saying “Heil Hitler.”
Schmidt acknowledged that the words and gesture were inappropriate and could cause offense and hurt. He stated that the video was filmed at a private family gathering and was never meant for the public.
“Whatever the context or intention at that gathering 20 years ago, I recognize that those words and gesture were inappropriate and capable of causing offense and hurt, and I apologize for using them,” he said in a statement.
Schmidt has previously voiced staunch support for Israel and has pledged to open an embassy in Jerusalem by the end of the year.
The leader of the Pacific Island nation wore a Jewish prayer shawl when he was sworn in as prime minister in 2025, and entered the room to the sound of a ceremonial shofar horn.
