Samoa prime minister apologizes for Nazi gesture and saying 'Heil Hitler' in 2007 video

WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- Samoa’s Prime Minister Laʻauli Leuatea Schmidt apologized Monday for a video from 19 years earlier in which he said “Heil Hitler” and made a Nazi gesture during what he described as a family gathering. His statement published on the government's Facebook page came a day after the Samoa Observer newspaper made public for the first time the existence and content of a seven-second clip that the outlet said was filmed at a Schmidt family reunion in Samoa in July 2007. In a screenshot from the video, Schmidt holds a microphone in one hand with the other arm lifted, surrounded by others making the same gesture.The newspaper reported Schmidt was heard saying into the microphone, “Raise your right hand, Heil Hitler!” Schmidt, who was the deputy speaker of Samoa's Parliament in 2007, didn't dispute the report. He has led the South Pacific island nation of 220,000 people since winning an August 2025 election. “I recognise that those words and gesture were inappropriate and capable of causing offence and hurt and I apologise for using them,” he said Monday. He added that the video was filmed “at a private family gathering — not intended for the public.”He rejected “...