Story highlights President Barack Obama encouraged volunteers to work hard for Clinton in the next eight days

He didn't mention Friday's revelations about the FBI reviewing emails linked to her personal server

(CNN) President Barack Obama told a group of volunteers for Hillary Clinton on Sunday to remain focused on electing the Democrat, despite what he called "noise and distractions" in the campaign's final stretch.

Obama did not mention Friday's disclosure from the FBI that it's examining a new stash of emails that may be related to the agency's investigation of Clinton's private server. The revelation has thrown the race to replace him into turmoil, but Obama said he'd long expected such unwelcome interruptions close to Election Day.

"There's going to be noise and distractions over the course of the final days of this campaign. We knew that was going to happen. It always does," Obama said on a conference call organized by Clinton's campaign. "But you just have to not be distracted and fight through it."

Referencing Clinton's "grit and that resilience," Obama praised his preferred successor as a survivor of past battles.

"Hillary is no stranger to tough fights," he said. "Whenever she gets knocked down, she just gets back up."

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