Samoa’s Prime Minister La'auli'alemali'etoa Leuatea Schmidt apologized after a 2007 video surfaced showing him giving a Nazi salute and saying "Heil Hitler." The BBC reports, UNN relays.
Details
In the seven-second video, filmed in July 2007, La'auli'alemali'etoa Leuatea Schmidt can be seen leading about a dozen people in a salute. "Raise your right hand, Heil Hitler!" he says, and then thanks the group for responding".
Schmidt acknowledged that his words and gesture "were inappropriate and could have offended and caused pain." He also added that the clip was recorded at a private gathering and "was not intended for the public."
I reject Nazism, anti-Semitism, racism, and all forms of political extremism
According to the publication, at the time the video was filmed, Schmidt was the deputy speaker of Parliament. A member of his family said that the politician was hosting the event.
Samoa is an island state with a population of about 221,000, located between New Zealand and Hawaii. At the beginning of the 20th century, the country was under German control, but this ended after the outbreak of World War I.
Schmidt, who is of Samoan and German descent, took office as the country’s eighth prime minister in September 2025. During the swearing-in ceremony, he wore a Jewish prayer shawl and clearly stated his support for Israel at the beginning of his premiership, saying that Samoa "supports Israel.
If people around the world do not like this, that is their business, but Samoa stands on the side of the land of God... There is only one God in whom our country believes—the God of Israel
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