Samoan Prime Minister Laʻauli Leuatea Schmidt issued an apology on Monday after a 19-year-old video surfaced showing him making a Nazi gesture and saying "Heil Hitler."
The seven-second video clip, filmed in July 2007 during a Schmidt family reunion in Samoa, was made public on Sunday by the Samoa Observer newspaper. In the footage, Schmidt, who was then the deputy speaker of Samoa's Parliament, is seen holding a microphone with one arm raised in a Nazi salute, surrounded by family members making the same gesture. He is heard saying into the microphone, "Raise your right hand, Heil Hitler!"
Schmidt, who has led the South Pacific nation of 220,000 people since winning an election in August 2025, did not dispute the recording. In a statement published on the government's Facebook page, he acknowledged the offense caused by his past actions. "I recognise that those words and gesture were inappropriate and capable of causing offence and hurt and I apologise for using them," Schmidt said, adding that the private gathering was never intended for the public. The prime minister's statement also emphasized his rejection of "Nazism, antisemitism, racism and all forms of political extremism." The exact context of what occurred immediately before and after the clip remains unexplained, and Schmidt's statement did not offer further details.
The release of the video comes amid an ongoing dispute between the prime minister and the Samoa Observer, the country's largest newspaper group. The government has barred the publication from covering his and other official news conferences and events since November, when Schmidt accused the outlet of misleading coverage.
On Friday, Schmidt confirmed and defended an incident in which a government aide deleted photos from an Observer reporter's camera. The photos had been taken in front of government buildings during an official event. Schmidt argued the deletion was justified because the newspaper was violating its coverage ban, a restriction the Observer has labeled "authoritarian." The Journalists Association of Samoa stated it was "deeply disturbed" by the photo deletion, joining other Pacific media groups in calling on the prime minister to reverse the ban.
Schmidt's past actions stand in contrast to his vocal support for Israel, a stance shared by several leaders in the deeply Christian South Pacific region. Following his swearing-in ceremony in September 2025—during which he wore a Jewish prayer shawl and blew a shofar—Schmidt told reporters, "Samoa will not withdraw from supporting Israel as the country of God’s people." While Samoa has not relocated its embassy, three other Pacific island nations have followed the United States in opening embassies in Jerusalem instead of Tel Aviv since September 2023.
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