Samoan Prime Minister Laʻauli Leuatea Schmidt apologized after a video surfaced showing him making a Nazi salute and saying "Heil Hitler" at a family gathering in 2007 when he was deputy speaker of parliament. The Samoa Observer published the seven-second clip, which depicts Schmidt leading others to raise their right arms while shouting “Hip hip!” followed by “Hooray!” before commanding them to say "Heil Hitler." In his statement, Schmidt acknowledged the inappropriate nature of the gesture and words but did not provide context for why he made these remarks. The incident comes amid a broader conflict between the government and Samoa Observer over press freedom; the newspaper was barred from attending official events due to perceived misleading coverage.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-05,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
La’auli Leuatea Schmidt, Prime Minister of Samoa, apologized on Monday after a seven-second video clip from July 2007 emerged showing him leading a Nazi salute and saying “Heil Hitler” at a family reunion. The footage, obtained by the Samoa Observer newspaper, was filmed when Schmidt was deputy speaker of parliament. About a dozen people can be seen following his lead in raising their right hands to say "Heil Hitler". Schmidt acknowledged that regardless of context, such words and gestures were inappropriate and could cause offense or hurt. He rejected Nazism, antisemitism, racism, and political extremism, emphasizing that the incident did not represent his beliefs or those of Samoa’s government and people. The apology came amid criticism from academics and concern over potential diplomatic repercussions for Samoa's pro-Israel stance.
Written for “Samoan PM Apologises For Nazi Gesture” on 2026-10-05,
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Samoa's prime minister apologised on Monday after a video emerged of him saying "Heil Hitler" and making a Nazi gesture at a family gathering.
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him → log → gathering
Laʻauli Leuatea Schmidt, who leads the South Pacific island nation of about 220,000 people, was filmed making the gesture at a family reunion in 2007, when he was the deputy speaker of parliament.
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he → lead → parliament
The seven-second clip shows Mr Schmidt raising his right arm and a group of people surrounding him making the same gesture.
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group → show → gesture
He can be heard shouting “Hip hip!”, eliciting “Hooray!” in response, before encouraging and leading the 13 people visible in the clip in saying, “Raise your right hand, Heil Hitler!”, according to the Samoa Observer.
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He → hear → Observer
In his statement, published on the government's Facebook page, he did not dispute the footage.
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he → publish → footage
“I recognise that those words and gesture were inappropriate and capable of causing offence and hurt and I apologise for using them," he said.
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he → recognise → them
The video showed a private family gathering and was "not intended for the public", he said, adding that he "Nazism, antisemitism, racism and all forms of political extremism".
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he → show → extremism
The video was published by the Samoa Observer, the country's largest newspaper, on Sunday.
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video → publish → Sunday
Radio New Zealand said its reporter in Samoa had independently verified the clip.
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reporter → say → clip
The newspaper said it was not known what happened immediately before or after the moment shown, and Mr Schmidt's statement did not explain it.
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statement → say → it
A member of the Schmidt family told the newspaper he was master of ceremonies at the reunion.
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he → tell → reunion
"That any responsible politician should say 'Heil Hitler' and give a Nazi salute in the 21st century is shocking and disturbing," Richard Evans, a historian of Nazi Germany, said in an email to the paper.
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Evans → say → paper
The video appeared days after the government reaffirmed its position to bar the newspaper from attending Mr Schmidt's news conferences and other official events.
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government → appear → conferences
The ban was originally imposed in November, when Mr Schmidt accused the newspaper of misleading coverage.
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Schmidt → impose → coverage
On Friday, Mr Schmidt confirmed that an aide had deleted photos of him from an Observer reporter's camera, taken in front of government buildings during an official event.
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aide → confirm → event
He defended the move, saying the paper was flouting the ban.
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paper → defend → ban
The Observer has denounced the ban as "authoritarian", and the Journalists Association of Samoa has said it is "deeply disturbed" by the photo deletion.
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it → denounce → deletion
Mr Schmidt has voiced strong support for Israel, as have several fellow leaders of Pacific island nations.
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leaders → voice → nations
He wore a Jewish prayer shawl at his swearing-in last September and the ceremony also included the blowing of shofar, a Jewish ritual ram's horn.
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ceremony → wear → shofar
"Samoa will not withdraw from supporting Israel as the country of God's people," he told reporters afterwards, local media reported.
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media → withdraw → reporters
The island nation is home to a tiny Jewish population, although there are no official estimates and no formal Jewish community.
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nation → be → population
Three Pacific islands, not including Samoa, have followed the US in opening embassies in Jerusalem since September 2023.
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islands → include → September
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