Samoa’s Prime Minister, La’auli Leuatea Schmidt, has apologised after a video emerged showing him performing a Nazi salute and leading people in saying “Heil Hitler” at a family gathering in 2007.
The seven-second footage, recorded during a Schmidt family reunion on the island of Savai‘i in July 2007, was published by the Samoa Observer on Sunday.
At the time, Schmidt was a member of parliament and deputy speaker.
In the video, he is seen holding a microphone while leading a “hip hip” exchange before asking those present to raise their right hands and say “Heil Hitler”.
About a dozen people shown in the footage appear to follow the gesture.
Radio New Zealand independently verified the footage through its correspondent in Samoa.
Schmidt, who became prime minister in 2025, issued an apology on Monday, saying the words and gesture were inappropriate regardless of the intention behind them.
“I reject Nazism, antisemitism, racism and all forms of political extremism,” he said, adding that the episode did not represent his beliefs or the values of Samoa’s government and people.
The apology came after academics criticised the footage.
Richard Evans, a historian of Nazi Germany, described it as “shocking and disturbing”, while University of Canterbury academic Anne-Marie Brady called on Schmidt to explain his actions and apologise.
Schmidt has in recent years publicly expressed strong support for Israel.
At his swearing-in, he wore a Jewish prayer shawl and a shofar, a horn used in Jewish religious ceremonies, was sounded.
He has also pledged to establish a Samoan embassy in Jerusalem before the end of 2026.
Only a handful of countries have taken such a step because of the disputed status of Jerusalem and Palestinian claims to East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state.
In his statement on Monday, Schmidt said he considered the controversy addressed and would now focus on Samoa’s economic and social challenges.
